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2024 Best Criminal Justice Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools

335 Colleges in the United States
31,518 Bachelor's Degrees
Criminal Justice Studies is of the hottest bachelor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #12 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 335 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for bachelor's degree seekers in the field of criminal justice studies. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 31,518 bachelor's degrees in criminal justice studies during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Criminal Justice Studies School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Criminal Justice Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools The criminal justice studies bachelor'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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for criminal justice studies students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Criminal Justice Studies Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Criminal Justice Studies Rankings Other Ranking Categories

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Criminal Justice Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Criminal Justice Studies in the United States

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in criminal justice studies. 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 Bachelor's in Criminal Justice Studies

1
74 Annual Graduates

George Washington University is a wonderful choice for students pursuing a bachelor's degree in criminal justice studies. Located in the city of Washington, GWU is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from George Washington University

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
499 Annual Graduates

American Public University System is a great choice for students pursuing a bachelor's degree in criminal justice studies. American Military University is a fairly large private for-profit university located in the town of Charles Town.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from American Public University System

3
Florida State crest
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
527 Annual Graduates

Florida State University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in criminal justice studies. Florida State is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Tallahassee.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from Florida State University

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
851 Annual Graduates

Sam Houston State University is a great decision for students interested in a bachelor's degree in criminal justice studies. SHSU is a fairly large public university located in the town of Huntsville.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from Sam Houston State University

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
194 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Cincinnati, UC is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
34 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Boston, Northeastern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from Northeastern University

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
313 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of San Diego, UAGC is a private for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from The University of Arizona Global Campus

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
49 Annual Graduates

TCU is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Fort Worth.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from Texas Christian University

8
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9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
524 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Orlando, UCF is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from University of Central Florida

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
614 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Miami, FIU is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from Florida International University

11
Purdue University Global crest
Purdue University Global
West Lafayette, IN

Purdue University Global is a very large public university located in the small city of West Lafayette.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from Purdue University Global

12
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
329 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Las Vegas, UNLV is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from University of Nevada - Las Vegas

13
20 Annual Graduates

Minnesota State Mankato is a fairly large public university located in the city of Mankato.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from Minnesota State University - Mankato

14
46 Annual Graduates

Located in the town of Adrian, Siena Heights University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from Siena Heights University

15
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
192 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Chicago, UIC is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from University of Illinois at Chicago

16
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
111 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from Indiana University - Bloomington

17
367 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Adelphi, UMGC is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from University of Maryland Global Campus

18
391 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of San Diego, SDSU is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from San Diego State University

19
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
241 Annual Graduates

UNOMAHA is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Omaha.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from University of Nebraska at Omaha

20
Liberty University crest
Liberty University
Lynchburg, VA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
614 Annual Graduates

Liberty University is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Lynchburg.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from Liberty University

21
Texas State crest
Texas State University
San Marcos, TX
300 Annual Graduates

Texas State is a fairly large public university located in the small city of San Marcos.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from Texas State University

22
The American University crest
American University
Washington, DC
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
107 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Washington, The American University is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from American University

23
St. Leo University crest
Saint Leo University
Saint Leo, FL
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
325 Annual Graduates

St. Leo University is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Saint Leo.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from Saint Leo University

24
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
58 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Fargo, North Dakota State University is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice studies from North Dakota State University - Main Campus

Rest of the Top Best Criminal Justice Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools

26
Simpson College crest
Simpson College
Indianola, IA
27
28
SC crest
Southwestern College
Winfield, KS
28
29
Seattle U crest
Seattle University
Seattle, WA
29
30

31

32
33
Bellevue University crest
Bellevue University
Bellevue, NE
34
35
36
SLU crest
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis, MO
37
38
39

40

41
42
43
44
Waldorf crest
Waldorf University
Forest City, IA
45
Columbia College South Carolina crest
Columbia College
Columbia, SC
46
47
48

Additional Award Winners

This section shows the remainder of the colleges awarded a Best Criminal Justice Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 335 different United States criminal justice studies schools we analyzed.

Rank College Location
49 Westfield State University Westfield, MA
50 University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Criminal Justice Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
51 Tarleton State University Stephenville, TX
52 Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, MN
53 Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN
54 Lewis University Romeoville, IL
55 Boise State University Boise, ID
56 Bethel University McKenzie, TN
57 California State University - Fullerton Fullerton, CA
58 DeSales University Center Valley, PA
59 University of Massachusetts - Boston Boston, MA
60 Madonna University Livonia, MI
61 California State University - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
62 California State University - San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA
63 University of Arkansas at Little Rock Little Rock, AR
64 University of Wisconsin - Platteville Platteville, WI
65 California State University - East Bay Hayward, CA
66 Kent State University at Kent Kent, OH
67 University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire Eau Claire, WI

Criminal Justice Studies by Region

View the Best Criminal Justice Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

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Criminal Justice Studies is one of 21 different types of Criminal Justice & Corrections programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Criminal Justice Studies

Related Major Annual Graduates
Criminal Justice 14,288
Criminal Justice & Police Science 3,210
Other Corrections & Criminal Justice 1,748
Criminal Justice and Corrections, General 777
Securities Services Administration/Management 433
Corrections 354
Corrections Administration 98
Law Enforcement Investigation & Interviewing 44
Juvenile Corrections 17
Protective Services Operations 3

Notes and References

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