2022 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Criminal Justice in California

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in California” ranking.

In 2019-2020, 33,568 people earned their degree in criminal justice, making the major the 32nd most popular in the United States.

Across California, there were 8,875 criminal justice graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 154 criminal justice graduates with average earnings and debt of $60,281 and $50,119 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in California” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree in criminal justice. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality criminal justice programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the criminal justice program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in California” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in California

The colleges and universities below are the best for california master’s degree criminal justice students.

Top 2 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Criminal Justice in California

#1

National University

La Jolla, California

#2 in overall quality

$15,480 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend National University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in California. National University is located in La Jolla, California and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 26 masters’s criminal justice degrees to qualified students.

National University not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Criminal Justice Master’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at National University are $15,480, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full National University Criminal Justice Report

#2

University of San Diego

San Diego, California

#1 in overall quality

$28,410 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of San Diego landed the #2 spot on the list. University of San Diego is a private not-for-profit institution located in San Diego, California. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 126 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

USD not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Criminal Justice Master’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at USD are $28,410, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full University of San Diego Criminal Justice Report

• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Criminal Justice in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Criminal Justice

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.

Featured Criminal Justice Administration Schools

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