2023 Best Value Colleges for Criminal Justice Studies (Income $0-$30k) in District of Columbia

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Criminal Justice Studies Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Criminal Justice Studies is the 16th most popular major in the country with 46,814 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.

Across District of Columbia, there were 238 criminal justice studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Criminal Justice Studies Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 3 colleges that offered a degree in criminal justice studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality criminal justice studies programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the criminal justice studies program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The criminal justice studies 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 “Best Value Criminal Justice Studies Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k”.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Criminal Justice Studies Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for district of columbia criminal justice studies students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Criminal Justice Studies (Income $0-$30k) in District of Columbia

1

George Washington University
Washington, District of Columbia

#1 in overall quality

$17,673 Average Net Price

$65,148 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend George Washington University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Criminal Justice Studies Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k. George Washington University is a large school located in Washington, District of Columbia that handed out 74 ’s criminal justice studies degrees in 2020-2021.

GWU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Criminal Justice Studies Schools in District of Columbia” list. The yearly cost to attend George Washington University is $17,673 for district of columbia criminal justice studies students whose families make $0-$30k.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 88%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full George Washington University Criminal Justice Studies Report

2

American University
Washington, District of Columbia

#2 in overall quality

$21,108 Average Net Price

$50,575 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Criminal Justice Studies Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, American University landed the #2 spot on the list. The American University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Washington, District of Columbia. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 131 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at The American University, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Criminal Justice Studies Schools in District of Columbia” ranking. It costs about $21,108 for district of columbia criminal justice studies students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend The American University.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Criminal Justice Studies at American University

3

Howard University
Washington, District of Columbia

#3 in overall quality

$39,395 Average Net Price

$50,572 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Criminal Justice Studies Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Howard University landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Washington, District of Columbia, this fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 33 degrees to qualified ’s criminal justice studies students in 2020-2021.

Howard also took the #3 spot in our “Best Criminal Justice Studies Schools in District of Columbia” ranking. It costs about $39,395 for district of columbia criminal justice studies students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Howard University.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 90%.

Full Howard University Criminal Justice Studies Report

• Best Value Colleges for Criminal Justice Studies (Income $0-$30k) in the Middle Atlantic Region
• Best Value Colleges for Criminal Justice Studies (Income $0-$30k)

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.