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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Criminal Justice in Illinois (With Aid)

6 Ranked Colleges
392 Degrees Awarded
$21,100 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2019-2020, 33,568 people earned their degree in criminal justice, making the major the 32nd most popular in the United States.

Across Illinois, there were 561 criminal justice graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 392 criminal justice graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 6 colleges that offer a degree in criminal justice. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality criminal justice programs that also have a lower cost than 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 program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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 Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important 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 Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid.

Top 6 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Criminal Justice in Illinois (With Aid)

#1

Western Illinois University

Macomb, Illinois
#1 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Illinois University landed the #1 spot on the list. Macomb, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s criminal justice degrees to 291 students in 2019-2020.

WIU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend Western Illinois University is $16,210 for illinois bachelor’s degree criminal justice students with aid.

Full Western Illinois University Criminal Justice Report

#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. This fairly large school is located in Carbondale, Illinois, and it awarded 2 bachelors’s criminal justice degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree criminal justice students with aid list, SIUC has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $16,945 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Criminal Justice students with aid per year to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Full SIUC Criminal Justice Report

#3

University of St Francis

Joliet, Illinois
#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of St Francis. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Joliet, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 14 degrees to qualified bachelors’s criminal justice students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at University of Saint Francis, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $17,538 for illinois bachelor’s degree criminal justice students with aid per year to attend University of Saint Francis.

The low student loan default rate of 3.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full University of St Francis Criminal Justice Report

#4

Elmhurst University

Elmhurst, Illinois
#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Elmhurst University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid. Located in Elmhurst, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 7 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s criminal justice students in 2019-2020.

Elmhurst did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $21,485 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Criminal Justice students with aid per year to attend Elmhurst University.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Criminal Justice at Elmhurst University

#5

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois
#2 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Bradley University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid. Located in Peoria, Illinois, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school awarded 12 degrees to qualified bachelors’s criminal justice students in 2019-2020.

Bradley did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $25,634 for illinois bachelor’s degree criminal justice students with aid per year to attend Bradley.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The low student loan default rate of 2.5% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read more about Criminal Justice at Bradley University

#6

DeVry University - Illinois

Chicago, Illinois
#6 in overall quality

DeVry University - Illinois did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #6. DeVry University - Illinois is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 41 bachelors’s criminal justice degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at DeVry University - Illinois, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $28,551 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Criminal Justice students with aid per year to attend DeVry University - Illinois.

Read full report on Criminal Justice at DeVry University - Illinois

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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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