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2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois

8 Ranked Colleges
176 Degrees Awarded
$22,000 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master's in Illinois

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois” ranking.

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” ranking looked at 8 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. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois master’s degree criminal justice students.

Top 8 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Criminal Justice & Corrections in Illinois

#1

Western Illinois University

Macomb, Illinois

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Illinois University landed the #1 spot on the list. Western Illinois University is a medium-sized public school situated in Macomb, Illinois. It awarded 49 masters’s criminal justice 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 WIU are $11,996, but some majors have different tuition rates.

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

#2

Illinois State University

Normal, Illinois
#5 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Illinois State University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois. This large school is located in Normal, Illinois, and it awarded 7 masters’s criminal justice degrees in 2019-2020.

Illinois State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Illinois State are $11,069, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full Illinois State Criminal Justice & Corrections Report

#3

Lewis University

Romeoville, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Lewis University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois. Lewis is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Romeoville, Illinois. It awarded 45 masters’s criminal justice degrees in 2019-2020.

Lewis also took the #2 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 Lewis are $14,780.

Read more about Criminal Justice & Corrections at Lewis University

#4

Governors State University

University Park, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Governors State University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois list. Governors State University is located in University Park, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 6 masters’s criminal justice degrees to qualified students.

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 Governors State University are $14,674.

Full Governors State University Criminal Justice & Corrections Report

#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 #5 for the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois. UIC is a large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 9 masters’s criminal justice degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC also made our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #4. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Illinois at Chicago are $27,036, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Criminal Justice & Corrections at UIC

#6

Loyola University Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Loyola University Chicago landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois ranking. Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 11 masters’s criminal justice degrees 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 Chicago

#7

Chicago State University

Chicago, Illinois

With a ranking of #7, Chicago State University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this small public school awarded 12 diplomas to qualified masters’s criminal justice students in 2019-2020.

CSU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Chicago State University are $15,056, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at CSU

#8

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

University of Chicago did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Illinois ranking, coming in at #8. UChicago is a fairly large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 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 some majors have different tuition rates.

Full University of Chicago Criminal Justice & Corrections Report

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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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