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2024 Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

26 Colleges in the Southwest Region
1,055 Master's Degrees
$48,416 Avg Early-Career Salary
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 26 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,055 master's degrees in criminal justice & corrections during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

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

Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region 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 quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a college'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.

Our full 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.

More Ways to Rank Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Criminal Justice Rankings Other Ranking Categories

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 Southwest Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Criminal Justice & Corrections in the Southwest 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 Southwest Region Schools for a Master's in Criminal Justice

1

It's difficult to beat Arizona State University - Skysong if you want to pursue a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. ASU - Skysong is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Scottsdale.

Those criminal justice & corrections students who get their master's degree from Arizona State University - Skysong make $4,742 more than the standard criminal justice student.

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

2

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections has to take a look at University of Phoenix - Arizona. Located in the city of Phoenix, UOPX - Arizona is a private for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the criminal justice program make about $42,565 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from University of Phoenix - Arizona

3
17 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections needs to look into Texas Christian University. TCU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Fort Worth.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Texas Christian University

4

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections needs to look into Sam Houston State University. SHSU is a very large public university located in the distant town of Huntsville.

Criminal Justice & Corrections master's degree recipients from Sam Houston State University earn a boost of around $2,294 above the typical income of criminal justice & corrections graduates.

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

5

Located in the city of Houston, UH Downtown is a public university with a large student population.

Criminal Justice & Corrections master's degree recipients from University of Houston - Downtown receive an earnings boost of about $8,564 over the average income of criminal justice & corrections graduates.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from University of Houston - Downtown

6

Grand Canyon University is a fairly large private for-profit university located in the city of Phoenix.

Students who graduate with their master's from the criminal justice program report average early career earnings of $45,908.

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

7
12 Annual Graduates

Located in the town of Plainview, Wayland Baptist University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Wayland Baptist University

8
24 Annual Graduates

UT Rio Grande Valley is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Edinburg.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

9
Lamar University crest
Lamar University
Beaumont, TX

Located in the city of Beaumont, Lamar University is a public university with a large student population.

Criminal Justice & Corrections master's degree recipients from Lamar University earn a boost of approximately $2,853 over the average income of criminal justice & corrections majors.

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

10
Texas State crest
Texas State University
San Marcos, TX
16 Annual Graduates

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

Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Colleges by State

Explore the best criminal justice & corrections schools for a specific state in the Southwest Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Texas 235 547
Arizona 180 474
Oklahoma 153 22
New Mexico 114 12

View All Rankings >

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 509
Criminal Justice Studies 446
Other Corrections & Criminal Justice 41
Securities Services Administration/Management 29
Criminal Justice and Corrections, General 17
Juvenile Corrections 13

Majors Similar to Criminal Justice

Related Major Annual Graduates
Homeland Security 224
Security Science and Technology 110
Fire Protection 13

Notes and References

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