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

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.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 13 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in Florida ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 577 master's degrees in criminal justice & corrections during the 2020-2021 academic year.

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 take this into account we consider a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination 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 full 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 Florida list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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

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

10 Top Florida Schools for a Master's in Criminal Justice

1

Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL

78 Annual Graduates

$45,057 Median Starting Salary

Florida State University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. Florida State is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Tallahassee.

Those criminal justice & corrections students who get their master's degree from Florida State University make $4,373 more than the standard criminal justice grad.

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

2

University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL

87 Annual Graduates

$45,067 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections needs to check out University of Central Florida. Located in the large suburb of Orlando, UCF is a public university with a very large student population.

Master's recipients from the criminal justice & corrections degree program at University of Central Florida get $4,383 above the standard college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from University of Central Florida

3

Saint Leo University
Saint Leo, FL

210 Annual Graduates

$43,614 Median Starting Salary

It is hard to beat Saint Leo University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. St. Leo University is a large private not-for-profit university located in the small suburb of Saint Leo.

Those criminal justice & corrections students who get their master's degree from Saint Leo University make $2,930 more than the standard criminal justice graduate.

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

4

Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale, FL

20 Annual Graduates

$43,676 Median Starting Salary

Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale is a great choice for individuals pursuing a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the midsize city of Fort Lauderdale, Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Those criminal justice & corrections students who get their master's degree from Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale receive $2,992 more than the typical criminal justice graduate.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale

5

Florida International University
Miami, FL

27 Annual Graduates

$43,114 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Miami, FIU is a public university with a very large student population.

Criminal Justice & Corrections master's degree recipients from Florida International University get an earnings boost of around $2,430 over the average income of criminal justice & corrections graduates.

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

6

Nova Southeastern University
Fort Lauderdale, FL

47 Annual Graduates

$51,292 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large suburb of Fort Lauderdale, NUS Florida is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Master's recipients from the criminal justice & corrections degree program at Nova Southeastern University get $10,608 more than the average college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

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

7

Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton, FL

22 Annual Graduates

$38,738 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Boca Raton, FAU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the criminal justice program report average early career income of $38,738.

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

8

St. Thomas University
Miami Gardens, FL

11 Annual Graduates

$36,030 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Miami Gardens, STU 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 $36,030.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from St. Thomas University

9

Florida Gulf Coast University
Fort Myers, FL

5 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Fort Myers, FGCU is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Florida Gulf Coast University

10

University of North Florida
Jacksonville, FL

20 Annual Graduates

$34,660 Median Starting Salary

UNF is a large public university located in the large city of Jacksonville.

After graduating, criminal justice master's recipients generally make an average of $34,660 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from University of North Florida

Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Colleges in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Georgia	190	127
Virginia	182	568
North Carolina	178	81
Tennessee	166	109
Alabama	151	211
Kentucky	147	110
Louisiana	147	201
South Carolina	146	61
Mississippi	145	41
Arkansas	121	18
West Virginia	112	176

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	490
Criminal Justice	83
Other Corrections & Criminal Justice	4

Majors Similar to Criminal Justice

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Homeland Security	225
Security Science and Technology	77
Fire Protection	13
Other Homeland Security	1

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.