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2024 Best Value Criminology Schools in Illinois

5 Ranked Colleges
243 Degrees Awarded
$19,800 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Criminology Schools in Illinois

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Criminology Schools in Illinois” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2020-2021, 11,039 people earned their degree in criminology, making the major the 80th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, criminology graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $33,568 and had an average of $24,453 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 243 criminology graduates with average earnings and debt of $32,318 and $26,809 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Criminology Schools in Illinois” ranking analyzed 5 colleges that offered a degree in criminology. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent criminology 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 criminology program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Criminology Schools in Illinois” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Criminology Schools in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois criminology students.

Top 5 Best Value Colleges for Criminology in Illinois

1

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It ranked #1 on our 2024 Best Value Criminology Schools in Illinois list. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a fairly large school located in Carbondale, Illinois that handed out 92 ’s criminology degrees in 2020-2021.

SIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Criminology Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $16,285 for Illinois Criminology students per year to attend SIUC.

Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Read full report on Criminology at SIUC

2
NLU crest
National Louis University
Chicago, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend National Louis University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Criminology Schools in Illinois. National Louis University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 57 ’s criminology degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at NLU, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Criminology Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $14,584 for illinois criminology students per year to attend NLU.

Full National Louis University Criminology Report

3
Dominican U crest
Dominican University
River Forest, Illinois

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Criminology Schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Dominican University landed the #3 spot on the list. Dominican University is a small private not-for-profit school situated in River Forest, Illinois. It awarded 24 ’s criminology degrees in 2020-2021.

Dominican U also made our “Best Criminology Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for Dominican University is $18,645 for illinois criminology students.

The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Criminology at Dominican U

4
Illinois College crest
Illinois College
Jacksonville, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Illinois College. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Criminology Schools in Illinois. Illinois College is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Jacksonville, Illinois. It awarded 14 ’s criminology degrees in 2020-2021.

Illinois College also took the #3 spot in our “Best Criminology Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Illinois College is $18,271 for Illinois Criminology students.

Read more about Criminology at Illinois College

5
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, Illinois

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Criminology Schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, DePaul University landed the #5 spot on the list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s criminology degrees to 31 students in 2020-2021.

DePaul not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Criminology Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend DePaul University is $31,174 for Illinois Criminology students.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Criminology at DePaul University

Notes and References

References

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

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