Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Find Schools Near

2022 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Criminal Justice & Corrections in California

8 Ranked Colleges
364 Degrees Awarded
$18,900 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master's in California

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in California” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 113,581 criminal justice and corrections students received their degree, making the major the 6th most popular in the country. In 2017-2018, criminal justice and corrections graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $31,952 and had an average of $24,936 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 16,534 criminal justice and corrections graduates with average earnings and debt of $28,495 and $19,443 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 364 criminal justice and corrections graduates with average earnings and debt of $60,281 and $50,119 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in California” ranking looked at 8 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in criminal justice and corrections. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great criminal justice and corrections programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the criminal justice and corrections program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in California” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in California.

Top 8 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Criminal Justice & Corrections in California

#3 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Long Beach. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in California list. Long Beach, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s criminal justice degrees to 19 students in 2019-2020.

CSULB also made our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #3. Average graduate tuition and fees at CSULB are $17,784, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at CSULB

#7 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - San Bernardino. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in California list. CSUSB is a public institution located in San Bernardino, California. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 9 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california master’s degree criminal justice students list, CSUSB has also earned the #7 rank in our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at California State University - San Bernardino are $17,936.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at CSUSB

#4

San Jose State University

San Jose, California

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend San Jose State University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in California list. San Jose State is located in San Jose, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 7 masters’s criminal justice degrees to qualified students.

San Jose State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at San Jose State are $18,790, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at San Jose State University

#8 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Stanislaus. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in California list. California State University - Stanislaus is located in Turlock, California and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 3 masters’s criminal justice degrees to qualified students.

Stan State also made our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #8. Average graduate tuition and fees at Stan State are $18,540, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Criminal Justice & Corrections at California State University - Stanislaus

#6 in overall quality

With a ranking of #6, California State University - Sacramento did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in California list. This large school is located in Sacramento, California, and it awarded 6 masters’s criminal justice degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Sac State, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Sac State are $18,356, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full Sac State Criminal Justice & Corrections Report

#7

National University

La Jolla, California

With a ranking of #7, National University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in California list. This fairly large school is located in La Jolla, California, and it awarded 26 masters’s criminal justice degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at National University, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at National University are $15,480, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full National University Criminal Justice & Corrections Report

#8

University of San Diego

San Diego, California

University of San Diego ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Master’s in California list. San Diego, California is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out masters’s criminal justice degrees to 126 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california master’s degree criminal justice students list, USD has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of San Diego are $28,410, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Criminal Justice & Corrections at University of San Diego

Switch to a Different Ranking Method

Notes and References

References

  • 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).
  • Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

  • *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
  • Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Featured Criminal Justice Administration Schools

Find Schools Near You