2024 Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools
Ranked #30 in popularity,
criminal justice & corrections is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
College Factual reviewed 236 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of criminal justice & corrections. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 7,135 master's degrees in criminal justice & corrections during the 2020-2021 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Criminal Justice & Corrections School for Your Master's Degree
The criminal justice master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
- Major Focus - How much a school focuses on criminal justice & corrections students vs. other majors.
- Major Demand - How many other criminal justice & corrections students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
- Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
- Student Debt - How easy is it for criminal justice & corrections to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized criminal justice & corrections related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for criminal justice & corrections students working on their master's degree.
More Ways to Rank Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools
The criminal justice 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 Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools.
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Featured Criminal Justice & Corrections Programs
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
MS in Criminal Justice
Gain the management, leadership, data analysis and budgeting skills you need to advance in the criminal justice field with this online master's from Southern New Hampshire University.
Learn More
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Criminal Justice & Corrections in the United States
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
25 Top Schools for a Master's in Criminal Justice
University of Massachusetts - Lowell is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. UMass Lowell is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Lowell.
Those criminal justice & corrections students who get their master's degree from University of Massachusetts - Lowell receive $44,837 more than the typical criminal justice grad.
More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from University of Massachusetts - Lowell
Any student who is interested in a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections needs to check out University of Chicago. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.
Those criminal justice & corrections students who get their master's degree from University of Chicago make $51,127 more than the typical criminal justice student.
More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from University of Chicago
Boston University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.
Master's recipients from the criminal justice & corrections degree program at Boston University make $4,021 more than the average college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Boston University
It's hard to beat University of San Diego if you want to pursue a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the city of San Diego, USD is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.
Those criminal justice & corrections students who get their master's degree from University of San Diego earn $68,369 more than the typical criminal justice graduate.
More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from University of San Diego
American Military University is a fairly large private for-profit university located in the fringe town of Charles Town.
Those criminal justice & corrections students who get their master's degree from American Public University System make $13,381 more than the typical criminal justice student.
More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from American Public University System
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