2026 Best Criminal Justice Schools in Minnesota
Criminal Justice degree programs prepare students for a range of careers in the field. While the number of schools offering the program varies, there are still top-quality ones to be found.
College Factual analyzed 9 schools to build this 2026 ranking of the best criminal justice schools.
What’s on this page:
Best Schools for Criminal Justice in Minnesota
If you are not interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the criminal justice degrees they offer, see the list below.
Top Schools in Criminal Justice
Concordia University Saint Paul is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in criminal justice. This moderately-sized private not-for-profit university is located in the city of Saint Paul. Roughly 45% of students complete a degree within six years here. About 20 criminal justice degrees were awarded at Concordia University Saint Paul in the most recent year. Graduates of the criminal justice program make about $65,867 in their early career. Concordia University Saint Paul graduates carry a median of $28,076 in student loans.
More information about a degree in criminal justice from Concordia University Saint Paul
Students looking for a strong criminal justice program will find one at Walden University, which ranked #2. Walden University is a very large private for-profit school located in the city of Minneapolis. About 216 criminal justice degrees were awarded at Walden University in the most recent year. Criminal Justice graduates of Walden University earn a median of $60,276 early in their careers. Walden University graduates carry a median of $48,133 in student loans.
More information about a degree in criminal justice from Walden University
Southwest Minnesota State University is one of the finest schools in the country for a degree in criminal justice, ranking #3. This moderately-sized public university is located in the town of Marshall. Southwest Minnesota State University graduates 44% of students within six years. Southwest Minnesota State University awarded about 13 criminal justice degrees in the most recent data year. Criminal Justice graduates of Southwest Minnesota State University earn a median of $47,898 early in their careers. Students borrow a median of $27,000 to complete this degree.
See the full criminal justice program report for Southwest Minnesota State University
More Criminal Justice Rankings
View All Criminal Justice Rankings >
Notes and References
The ranking above is published by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. The methodology weighs graduation rate, post-graduation earnings, cost, and program quality, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Top Ranked · 9 schools evaluated.
- 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
