2024 Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

Ranked #30 in popularity, criminal justice & corrections is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual reviewed 15 schools in the Far Western US Region to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of criminal justice & corrections. Combined, these schools handed out 465 master's degrees in criminal justice & corrections to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Criminal Justice & Corrections School for Your Master's Degree

The criminal justice master'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. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we include a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

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

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on criminal justice & corrections students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other criminal justice & corrections students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for criminal justice & corrections to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized criminal justice & corrections related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for criminal justice & corrections students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Criminal Justice & Corrections in the Far Western US Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections.

10 Top Far Western US Region Schools for a Master's in Criminal Justice

1

University of San Diego
San Diego, CA

131 Annual Graduates

$116,926 Median Starting Salary

University of San Diego is a good decision for individuals interested in a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the large city of San Diego, USD is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.

Master's recipients from the criminal justice & corrections degree program at University of San Diego earn $63,264 above the typical college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from University of San Diego

2

Seattle University
Seattle, WA

39 Annual Graduates

$55,596 Median Starting Salary

Seattle University is a wonderful choice for students pursuing a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the large city of Seattle, Seattle U is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the criminal justice program state that they receive average early career earnings of $55,596.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Seattle University

3

California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA

19 Annual Graduates

California State University - Long Beach is a wonderful decision for individuals pursuing a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from California State University - Long Beach

4

National University
San Diego, CA

37 Annual Graduates

$45,879 Median Starting Salary

National University is a wonderful decision for individuals interested in a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. National University is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of San Diego.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the criminal justice program earn about $45,879 in their early career salary.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from National University

5

Central Washington University
Ellensburg, WA

14 Annual Graduates

CWU is a medium-sized public university located in the distant town of Ellensburg.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Central Washington University

6

The University of Arizona Global Campus
San Diego, CA

107 Annual Graduates

$38,063 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of San Diego, UAGC is a private for-profit university with a very large student population.

After graduation, criminal justice master's recipients generally make about $38,063 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from The University of Arizona Global Campus

7

Chaminade University of Honolulu
Honolulu, HI

14 Annual Graduates

$44,436 Median Starting Salary

Chaminade University of Honolulu is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Honolulu.

Master's students who receive their degree from the criminal justice program earn an average of $44,436 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Chaminade University of Honolulu

8

University of Nevada - Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV

13 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Las Vegas, UNLV is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from University of Nevada - Las Vegas

9

Portland State University
Portland, OR

14 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Portland, Portland State University is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Portland State University

10

Western Oregon University
Monmouth, OR

8 Annual Graduates

Located in the fringe town of Monmouth, Western Oregon State College is a public university with a small student population.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Western Oregon University

Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Colleges by State

Explore the best criminal justice & corrections colleges for a specific state in the Far Western US Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
California	253	352
Washington	183	53
Oregon	158	26
Nevada	105	13
Hawaii	85	14
Alaska	52	7

View All Rankings >

Criminal Justice & Corrections Related Rankings by Major

One of 4 majors within the Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting area of study, Criminal Justice & Corrections has other similar majors worth exploring.

Criminal Justice Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Criminal Justice Studies	267
Criminal Justice	190
Corrections Administration	8

Majors Similar to Criminal Justice

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Homeland Security	159
Security Science and Technology	153
Fire Protection	16
Other Homeland Security	14

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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 the rest 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.