Best Probation Officer programs in Illinois, ranked by enrollment
Provide social services to assist in rehabilitation of law offenders in custody or on probation or parole.
36 schools in Illinois run programs that feed this job, graduating 2,620 people a year. The job pays a median of $74,390 in Illinois across about 2,590 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Illinois that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in Illinois that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Illinois (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Illinois page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 44.0701In Illinois → | 2,620 | 100.0% | 36 | $37,264 | $26,140 |
Top 25 schools in Illinois
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 13 of the 36 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aurora University Aurora, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 745 | Social Work | $38,382 | 60% | $18,431 | 81% |
| 2 | Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 294 | Social Work | — | 73% | $33,454 | 82% |
| 3 | University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 257 | Social Work | $36,815 | 85% | — | 42% |
| 4 | University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 205 | Social Work | — | 62% | — | 77% |
| 5 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 173 | Social Work | — | 96% | $13,333 | 4% |
| 6 | Chamberlain University - Illinois Addison, IL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 150 | Social Work | — | 42% | $29,024 | 83% |
| 7 | Northeastern Illinois University Chicago, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 112 | Social Work | $39,178 | 22% | — | 75% |
| 8 | Dominican University River Forest, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 86 | Social Work | — | 55% | $16,176 | 90% |
| 9 | Southern Illinois University - Carbondale Carbondale, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 78 | Social Work | $34,664 | 62% | — | 87% |
| 10 | Illinois State University Normal, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 76 | Social Work | $39,041 | 65% | — | 88% |
| 11 | Lewis University Romeoville, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 50 | Social Work | — | 67% | $17,632 | 71% |
| 12 | University of St Francis Joliet, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 47 | Social Work | — | 67% | $15,591 | 65% |
| 13 | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 44 | Social Work | $36,974 | 57% | — | 97% |
| 14 | Governors State University University Park, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 41 | Social Work | $44,133 | 22% | — | 48% |
| 15 | National Louis University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Social Work | $37,205 | 30% | $18,904 | 95% |
| 16 | City Colleges of Chicago - Kennedy - King College Chicago, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Social Work | — | 31% | — | — |
| 17 | Erikson Institute Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Social Work | — | — | — | — |
| 18 | Western Illinois University Macomb, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Social Work | $39,641 | 45% | — | 71% |
| 19 | Trinity Christian College Palos Heights, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Social Work | — | 58% | $15,126 | 85% |
| 20 | University of Illinois Springfield Springfield, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Social Work | $38,707 | 53% | — | 86% |
| 21 | Olivet Nazarene University Bourbonnais, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Social Work | $31,720 | 61% | $20,903 | 56% |
| 22 | DePaul University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Social Work | — | 68% | $28,141 | 76% |
| 23 | Chicago State University Chicago, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Social Work | — | 15% | — | 43% |
| 24 | Southwestern Illinois College Belleville, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Social Work | — | 36% | — | — |
| 25 | Bradley University Peoria, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Social Work | $36,017 | 76% | $21,768 | 77% |
All 36 schools in Illinois
Every school in Illinois with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurora University | Aurora | Private not-for-profit | 745 | 1 |
| Loyola University Chicago | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 294 | 1 |
| University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign | Champaign | Public | 257 | 1 |
| University of Illinois Chicago | Chicago | Public | 205 | 1 |
| University of Chicago | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 173 | 1 |
| Chamberlain University - Illinois | Addison | Private for-profit | 150 | 1 |
| Northeastern Illinois University | Chicago | Public | 112 | 1 |
| Dominican University | River Forest | Private not-for-profit | 86 | 1 |
| Southern Illinois University - Carbondale | Carbondale | Public | 78 | 1 |
| Illinois State University | Normal | Public | 76 | 1 |
| Lewis University | Romeoville | Private not-for-profit | 50 | 1 |
| University of St Francis | Joliet | Private not-for-profit | 47 | 1 |
| Southern Illinois University Edwardsville | Edwardsville | Public | 44 | 1 |
| Governors State University | University Park | Public | 41 | 1 |
| National Louis University | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 30 | 1 |
What probation officers and correctional treatment specialists earn in Illinois
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $66,270. Illinois pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Illinois
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists page.
How to become a Probation Officer
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Illinois
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 44.0701Social Work
Common questions
Answers for people weighing probation officers and correctional treatment specialists programs in Illinois.
What degree do you need to become a Probation Officer?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Social Work, which awarded 2,620 degrees in Illinois in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Probation Officer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Social Work. Together they graduate about 2,620 people a year in Illinois.
How much do probation officers and correctional treatment specialists earn in Illinois?+
The median is $74,390 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 12.3% above the U.S. median of $66,270. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for probation officers and correctional treatment specialists growing?+
BLS projects a +2.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 7,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Illinois?+
36 institutions in Illinois reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do probation officers and correctional treatment specialists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Probation Officer, Parole Officer (PO), Correctional Counselor, Juvenile Probation Officer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 21-1092.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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