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Best Value Criminology Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value Criminology Schools in Illinois

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

5 Colleges
$28,429 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$32,318 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Criminology School for You

In 2020-2021, 243 degrees and certificates were awarded to criminology students who went to a Illinois college or university. This makes it the #104 most popular major in the state.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Criminology Schools in Illinois ranking. This report analyzed 5 schools in Illinois to see which ones offered the best value programs for criminology 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. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Criminology Schools in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for criminology majors pursuing a .

Best Illinois Schools for Affordable Quality in Criminology

$14,169 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found National Louis University to be the best value school for criminology students who want to pursue a degree in Illinois. NLU is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

NLU undergraduate students pay an average of $14,169 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Criminology majors at NLU take out an average of $28,426 in student loans while working on their egree.

Read full report on Criminology at National Louis University

$15,240 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at Southern Illinois University Carbondale helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best criminology schools in Illinois. SIUC is a large public school located in the small city of Carbondale.

SIUC undergraduate students pay an average of $15,240 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Criminology majors at SIUC take out an average of $25,000 in student loans while working on their egree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $161, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

Full Criminology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale Report

#3

Dominican University

River Forest, IL
$35,420 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Dominican University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Criminology Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large suburb of River Forest, Dominican U is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Dominican U are $35,420 per year. Criminology majors at Dominican U take out an average of $27,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Dominican U also did well on our Best Criminology Schools in Illinois list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Criminology at Dominican University Report

#4

Illinois College

Jacksonville, IL
$35,302 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Illinois College is a great value for criminology students. Illinois College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Jacksonville.

Illinois College undergraduate students pay an average of $35,302 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Criminology at Illinois College Report

#5

DePaul University

Chicago, IL
$42,012 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at DePaul University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best criminology schools in Illinois. Located in the large city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at DePaul are $42,012 a year.

Read More…

Best Value Criminology Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Criminology Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 150
Ohio 427
Indiana 275
Wisconsin 225

One of 12 majors within the area of study, criminology has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Political Science & Government 49,282
Economics 49,055
Sociology 38,475
General Social Sciences 18,997
International Relations & National Security 14,306

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 5 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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