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Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

10 Colleges
$18,376 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$48,557 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree School for You

With 2,483 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, criminal justice and corrections is the #12 most popular major in Illinois.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. This report analyzed 10 schools in Illinois to see which ones offered the best value master's degree programs for criminal justice students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for criminal justice majors pursuing a master's degree.

Top 10 Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools

Our analysis found Illinois State University to be the best value school for criminal justice and corrections students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Illinois. Located in the suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Illinois State are $9,773 a year.

Illinois State did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.

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

#2

Governors State University

University Park, IL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Governors State University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. GSU is a small public school located in the rural area of University Park.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at GSU are $8,320 per year.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Governors State University

The excellent master’s degree programs at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value criminal justice and corrections schools in Illinois. Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public college with a large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at SIUE are $9,316 per year.

Read More…

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Western Illinois University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. WIU is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Macomb.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at WIU are $12,182 a year.

Full Criminal Justice & Corrections at Western Illinois University Report

#5

Lewis University

Romeoville, IL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Lewis University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the suburb of Romeoville, Lewis is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Lewis are $14,960 per year.

Full Criminal Justice & Corrections at Lewis University Report

#6

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

With a ranking of #6, Aurora University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for criminal justice and corrections students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Aurora graduate students pay an average of $14,100 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Aurora excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.

Read More…

With a ranking of #7, Chicago State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for criminal justice and corrections students working on their master’s degree. CSU is a small public school located in the city of Chicago.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at CSU are $9,728 per year.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Chicago State University

University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree criminal justice and corrections programs. Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public school with a very large student population.

UIC graduate students pay an average of $17,277 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Criminal Justice & Corrections at University of Illinois at Chicago Report

Loyola University Chicago ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Loyola Chicago is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Loyola Chicago are $19,894 a year.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Loyola University Chicago

#10

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

University of Chicago did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for criminal justice and corrections students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

UChicago graduate students pay an average of $63,936 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UChicago did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at University of Chicago

Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 2,094
Ohio 2,805
Indiana 2,249
Wisconsin 1,134

Criminal Justice & Corrections is one of 4 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fire Protection 13,766
Homeland Security 7,140
Security Science and Technology 6,888
Other Homeland Security 1,695

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 10 schools only.

  • 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).

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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