If you plan on majoring in criminology, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #80 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 6 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Criminology Schools in Illinois ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 222 degrees in criminology annually.
The criminology program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Criminology rankings. We derive our Best Overall Criminology School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
The criminology school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Criminology Schools in Illinois.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the criminology degrees they offer, see the list below.
Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a great choice for students pursuing a degree in criminology. Located in the distant town of Carbondale, SIUC is a public university with a large student population. This university ranks 36th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were about 81 criminology students who graduated with this degree at SIUC in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the criminology program report average early career income of $37,645.
Any student who is interested in criminology needs to look into DePaul University. DePaul is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #135 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means DePaul is a great university overall.
There were approximately 30 criminology students who graduated with this degree at DePaul in the most recent year we have data available.
Concordia University, Chicago is a wonderful choice for students pursuing a degree in criminology. Located in the suburb of River Forest, Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #125 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Concordia University, Chicago is a great university overall.
There were approximately 9 criminology students who graduated with this degree at Concordia University, Chicago in the most recent year we have data available.
It's hard to beat Illinois College if you want to pursue a degree in criminology. Illinois College is a small private not-for-profit college located in the distant town of Jacksonville. This college ranks 69th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were about 13 criminology students who graduated with this degree at Illinois College in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the large suburb of River Forest, Dominican U is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 43rd out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were about 23 criminology students who graduated with this degree at Dominican U in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, criminology degree recipients usually make an average of $31,758 in their early careers.
NLU is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #385 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means NLU is a great university overall.
There were roughly 63 criminology students who graduated with this degree at NLU in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the criminology program earn about $30,170 in the first couple years of working.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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 the rest 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).
The criminology program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Criminology rankings. We derive our Best Overall Criminology School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
