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2023 Best Criminal Justice Colleges for Veterans in Illinois

5 Ranked Colleges
526 Degrees Awarded
$25,500 Avg Cost*
Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Criminal Justice

Veterans have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Criminal Justice” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Criminal Justice is the 27th most popular major in the country with 32,891 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.

Across Illinois, there were 526 criminal justice graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Criminal Justice” ranking looked at 5 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in criminal justice. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great criminal justice programs and a strong support system for veterans and active service members.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as veteran satisfaction, veteran affordability, and overall quality of the criminal justice program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Criminal Justice Schools

Rankings by Degree Other Award Levels
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More Criminal Justice Rankings Other Ranking Categories

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Criminal Justice” 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. 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.

Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Criminal Justice

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois vets studying criminal justice.

Top 5 Best Criminal Justice Colleges for Veterans in Illinois

1

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Western Illinois University. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Criminal Justice list. WIU is a medium-sized school located in Macomb, Illinois that handed out 305 ’s criminal justice degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at WIU, the school also landed the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Our most recent data shows that 330 of the 7,490 students enrolled at Western Illinois University were GI Bill® students, of which 62 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $4,652. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.

Read More…

2
SWIC crest
Southwestern Illinois College
Belleville, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southwestern Illinois College. The school came in at #2 for the Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Criminal Justice. Southwestern Illinois College is a public institution located in Belleville, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 43 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our illinois vets studying criminal justice list, SWIC has also earned the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] rank in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Our most recent data shows that 492 of the 6,906 students enrolled at SWIC were GI Bill® students, of which 271 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $3,194. To help with additional expenses, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.

Read More…

3
Aurora crest
Aurora University
Aurora, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Aurora University. The school came in at #3 for the Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Criminal Justice. Aurora University is located in Aurora, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 8 ’s criminal justice degrees to qualified students.

Aurora also made our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list, coming in at #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS].Of the 6,265 students enrolled at Aurora, 3 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 1 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $6,999. During this same period, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Aurora offers credit for military training for eligible students.

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

[Read full report on veteran student life at Aurora University]](/colleges/aurora-university/student-life/veterans/)

4
Elmhurst crest
Elmhurst University
Elmhurst, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Elmhurst University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Criminal Justice list. This small school is located in Elmhurst, Illinois, and it awarded 31 ’s criminal justice degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our illinois vets studying criminal justice list, Elmhurst has also earned the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] rank in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Our most recent data shows that 77 of the 3,421 students enrolled at Elmhurst were GI Bill® students, of which 57 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $12,985. During this same period, 7 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Elmhurst does offer credit for military training for eligible students.

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

Full Elmhurst Veteran Student Life Report

5

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend DeVry University - Illinois. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Criminal Justice list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private for-profit school handed out ’s criminal justice degrees to 25 students in 2020-2021.

DeVry University - Illinois did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.Among the 20,832 students enrolled at DeVry University - Illinois, 53 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 40 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $4,929. On top of their other funding sources, 1 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.

[Read full report on veteran student life at DeVry University - Illinois]](/colleges/devry-university-illinois/student-life/veterans/)

Notes and References

References

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

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