2024 Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in California

Criminal Justice & Corrections is of the hottest master's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #30 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 9 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 352 master's degrees in criminal justice & corrections during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

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

Your choice of criminal justice & corrections for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality criminal justice program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to criminal justice & corrections students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of criminal justice & corrections students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How much debt criminal justice & corrections students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• 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 schools for criminal justice & corrections students working on their master's degree.

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 Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Criminal Justice & Corrections in California

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for criminal justice & corrections students seeking a a master's degree.

Top California 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 one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. USD is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of San Diego.

Those criminal justice & corrections students who get their master's degree from University of San Diego receive $60,200 more than the standard criminal justice student.

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

2

California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA

19 Annual Graduates

California State University - Long Beach is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. CSULB is a very large public university located in the city of Long Beach.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from California State University - Long Beach

3

National University
San Diego, CA

37 Annual Graduates

$45,879 Median Starting Salary

National University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the city of San Diego, National University is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the criminal justice program state that they receive average early career wages of $45,879.

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

4

The University of Arizona Global Campus
San Diego, CA

107 Annual Graduates

$38,063 Median Starting Salary

The University of Arizona Global Campus is a great choice for individuals interested in a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. UAGC is a fairly large private for-profit university located in the large city of San Diego.

Master's students who receive their degree from the criminal justice program make about $38,063 for their early career.

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

5

San Jose State University
San Jose, CA

9 Annual Graduates

San Jose State is a very large public university located in the large city of San Jose.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from San Jose State University

6

California State University - Sacramento
Sacramento, CA

4 Annual Graduates

$44,629 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the criminal justice program earn an average of $44,629 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from California State University - Sacramento

7

California State University - San Bernardino
San Bernardino, CA

5 Annual Graduates

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

8

California State University - Stanislaus
Turlock, CA

2 Annual Graduates

Stan State is a fairly large public university located in the small suburb of Turlock.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from California State University - Stanislaus

9

University of Antelope Valley
Lancaster, CA

1 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Lancaster, UAV is a private for-profit university with a fairly small student population.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from University of Antelope Valley

Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

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

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice & Corrections is one of 4 different types of Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting programs to choose from.

Criminal Justice Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Criminal Justice Studies	183
Criminal Justice	169

Most Popular Majors Related to Criminal Justice

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Security Science and Technology	153
Homeland Security	147
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.