2024 Best Criminology Master's Degree Schools
If you plan on getting your master's degree in
criminology, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #130 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 40 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for criminology students pursuing a master's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 789 master's degrees in criminology to qualified students.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Criminology School for Your Master's Degree
The criminology 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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
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 include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
- Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to criminology students as compared to other majors.
- Major Demand - The number of criminology students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
- 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 criminology 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 criminology related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for criminology students working on their master's degree.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Criminology Master's Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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Featured Criminology Programs
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
MS in Criminal Justice
Gain the management, leadership, data analysis and budgeting skills you need to advance in the criminal justice field with this online master's from Southern New Hampshire University.
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Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Criminology in the United States
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in criminology.
10 Top Schools for a Master's in Criminology
University of Pennsylvania is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in criminology. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia.
Master's recipients from the criminology degree program at University of Pennsylvania get $4,449 more than the average college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
More information about a master’s in criminology from University of Pennsylvania
University of California - Irvine is a great choice for students pursuing a master's degree in criminology. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a very large student population.
Master's recipients from the criminology program at University of California - Irvine get $10,119 more than the average college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
More information about a master’s in criminology from University of California - Irvine
Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in criminology needs to look into University of Maryland - College Park. Located in the large suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in criminology from University of Maryland - College Park
It is difficult to beat Lasell University if you want to pursue a master's degree in criminology. Located in the city of Newton, Lasell is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a master’s in criminology from Lasell University
Located in the large city of Philadelphia, St. Joe's is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.
After graduation, criminology master's recipients generally earn an average of $47,307 in their early careers.
More information about a master’s in criminology from Saint Joseph’s University