If you pursue a degree in criminology, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #76 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 9 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Criminology Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,433 degrees in criminology annually.
Your choice of criminology school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Criminology School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Criminology Schools in California list to help you make the college decision.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the criminology degrees they offer, see the list below.
University of California - Irvine is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in criminology. UC Irvine is a fairly large public university located in the city of Irvine. A Best Colleges rank of #73 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Irvine is a great university overall.
There were roughly 447 criminology students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent data year.
Any student pursuing a degree in criminology has to look into California State University - San Marcos. CSUSM is a large public university located in the suburb of San Marcos. This university ranks 65th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 273 criminology students who graduated with this degree at CSUSM in the most recent year we have data available.
It's hard to beat California State University - Fresno if you wish to pursue a degree in criminology. Fresno State is a very large public university located in the city of Fresno. This university ranks 81st out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 405 criminology students who graduated with this degree at Fresno State in the most recent year we have data available.
It is difficult to beat California Lutheran University if you wish to pursue a degree in criminology. Located in the midsize city of Thousand Oaks, CLU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 88th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 38 criminology students who graduated with this degree at CLU in the most recent data year.
SDSU is a very large public university located in the large city of San Diego. A Best Colleges rank of #185 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means SDSU is a great university overall.
There were roughly 10 criminology students who graduated with this degree at SDSU in the most recent year we have data available.
Cal Poly Pomona is a very large public university located in the suburb of Pomona. A Best Colleges rank of #436 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Cal Poly Pomona is a great university overall.
There were about 80 criminology students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly Pomona in the most recent year we have data available.
Humboldt State University is a medium-sized public university located in the remote town of Arcata. This university ranks 125th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 36 criminology students who graduated with this degree at Humboldt State University in the most recent data year.
Gain a solid foundation in the American justice system, criminal law and social science when you earn your associate degree in criminal justice online from Southern New Hampshire University.
Located in the city of Los Angeles, MSMU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #186 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means MSMU is a great university overall.
There were roughly 12 criminology students who graduated with this degree at MSMU in the most recent data year.
Located in the large suburb of La Verne, ULV is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 78th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 58 criminology students who graduated with this degree at ULV in the most recent data year.
One of 0 majors within the Criminology area of study, Criminology has other similar majors worth exploring.
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).
Your choice of criminology school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Criminology School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
