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2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

9 Ranked Colleges
176 Degrees Awarded
$20,500 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master's in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Criminal Justice & Corrections is one of the most popular majors in the nation, ranking 6th of all the majors we analyze. In 2019-2020, 113,581 degrees were awarded to students with this major. In 2017-2018, criminal justice and corrections graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $31,952 and had an average of $24,936 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 2,972 criminal justice and corrections graduates with average earnings and debt of $34,492 and $25,635 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 176 criminal justice and corrections graduates with average earnings and debt of $57,267 and $46,814 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 9 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in criminal justice and corrections. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent criminal justice and corrections programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the criminal justice and corrections program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” list to help you make the college decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 9 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Criminal Justice & Corrections (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

#1

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Chicago landed the #1 spot on the list. University of Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 29 masters’s criminal justice degrees in 2019-2020.

UChicago did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Chicago are $61,548, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at UChicago

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. Located in Edwardsville, Illinois, this fairly large public school awarded 4 degrees to qualified masters’s criminal justice students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois master’s degree criminal justice students whose families make $0-$30k list, SIUE has also earned the #0 rank in our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at SIUE are $9,300, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full SIUE Criminal Justice & Corrections Report

#3

Governors State University

University Park, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Governors State University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. Governors State University is a small school located in University Park, Illinois that handed out 6 masters’s criminal justice degrees in 2019-2020.

GSU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at GSU are $14,674.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at GSU

#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Chicago. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. This large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 9 masters’s criminal justice degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC also took the #4 spot in our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UIC are $27,036.

Full University of Illinois at Chicago Criminal Justice & Corrections Report

#5

Lewis University

Romeoville, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Lewis University. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Lewis University is a medium-sized school located in Romeoville, Illinois that handed out 45 masters’s criminal justice degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Lewis, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Lewis are $14,780, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full Lewis University Criminal Justice & Corrections Report

#6

Western Illinois University

Macomb, Illinois

Western Illinois University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #6. WIU is a public institution located in Macomb, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 49 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

WIU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Western Illinois University are $11,996, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full Western Illinois University Criminal Justice & Corrections Report

#7

Illinois State University

Normal, Illinois
#5 in overall quality

Illinois State University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #7. This large school is located in Normal, Illinois, and it awarded 7 masters’s criminal justice degrees in 2019-2020.

Illinois State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Illinois State University are $11,069.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Illinois State University

#8

Chicago State University

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago State University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Chicago State University is a public institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 12 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois master’s degree criminal justice students whose families make $0-$30k list, CSU has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at CSU are $15,056, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Chicago State University

#9

Loyola University Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Loyola University Chicago ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 11 degrees to qualified masters’s criminal justice students in 2019-2020.

Loyola Chicago also made our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #6. Average graduate tuition and fees at Loyola University Chicago are $19,154, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Criminal Justice & Corrections at Loyola University Chicago

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Notes and References

References

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

  • *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
  • Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

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