2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. 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 Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania” ranking is part of that endeavor.

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

Across Pennsylvania, there were 727 criminal justice graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 18 criminal justice graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania” ranking, we looked at 5 colleges that offer a degree in criminal justice. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent criminal justice programs, but they also cost less that 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 program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Criminal Justice Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest 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 Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania.

Top 5 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Criminal Justice in Pennsylvania

#1

Pennsylvania State University - University Park

University Park, Pennsylvania

#1 in overall quality

$38,728 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Pennsylvania State University - University Park. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania.

Penn State University Park not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Criminal Justice Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Penn State University Park are $38,728, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Criminal Justice at Penn State University Park

#2

Marywood University

Scranton, Pennsylvania

#4 in overall quality

$11,438 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Marywood University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania. Marywood University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The school has a small population, and it awarded 4 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Marywood not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Criminal Justice Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Marywood University are $11,438, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full Marywood Criminal Justice Report

#3

Mercyhurst University

Erie, Pennsylvania

#3 in overall quality

$16,565 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Mercyhurst University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania. Erie, Pennsylvania is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out masters’s criminal justice degrees to 7 students in 2019-2020.

Mercyhurst not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Criminal Justice Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Mercyhurst University are $16,565, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full Mercyhurst University Criminal Justice Report

#4

Point Park University

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

#5 in overall quality

$17,748 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Point Park University landed the #4 spot on the list. Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 3 degrees to qualified masters’s criminal justice students in 2019-2020.

Point Park also made our “Best Criminal Justice Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #5. Average graduate tuition and fees at Point Park are $17,748, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Criminal Justice at Point Park

#5

Widener University

Chester, Pennsylvania

#2 in overall quality

$24,810 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Widener University landed the #5 spot on the list. Widener University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Chester, Pennsylvania. It awarded 3 masters’s criminal justice degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our pennsylvania master’s degree criminal justice students list, Widener has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Criminal Justice Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Widener University are $24,810, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Criminal Justice at Widener

• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Criminal Justice in the Middle Atlantic 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.

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