2024 Best Criminology Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

Criminology is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #130 most popular master's degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 6 schools in the Far Western US Region to determine which ones were the best for criminology students pursuing a master's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 78 master's degrees in criminology during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Criminology School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of criminology for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality criminology program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on criminology students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other criminology students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How much debt criminology students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• 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.

More Ways to Rank Criminology Schools

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 in the Far Western US Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Criminology in the Far Western US Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in criminology.

Top Far Western US Region Schools for a Master's in Criminology

1

University of California - Irvine
Irvine, CA

41 Annual Graduates

$56,448 Median Starting Salary

University of California - Irvine is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in criminology. UC Irvine is a fairly large public university located in the city of Irvine.

Master's recipients from the criminology degree program at University of California - Irvine get $6,055 more than the standard college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in criminology from University of California - Irvine

2

University of Nevada - Reno
Reno, NV

4 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat University of Nevada - Reno if you wish to pursue a master's degree in criminology. UNR is a very large public university located in the city of Reno.More information about a master’s in criminology from University of Nevada - Reno

2

California State University - Fresno
Fresno, CA

7 Annual Graduates

California State University - Fresno is a good option for individuals pursuing a master's degree in criminology. Fresno State is a fairly large public university located in the city of Fresno.More information about a master’s in criminology from California State University - Fresno

3

Washington State University
Pullman, WA

2 Annual Graduates

Washington State University is a wonderful option for students pursuing a master's degree in criminology. Located in the distant town of Pullman, Wazzu is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in criminology from Washington State University

4

San Jose State University
San Jose, CA

12 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in criminology has to look into San Jose State University. San Jose State is a very large public university located in the city of San Jose.More information about a master’s in criminology from San Jose State University

5

San Diego State University
San Diego, CA

7 Annual Graduates

SDSU is a fairly large public university located in the city of San Diego.More information about a master’s in criminology from San Diego State University

6

Alliant International University
San Diego, CA

5 Annual Graduates

$44,338 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of San Diego, Alliant is a private for-profit university with a small student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the criminology program make around $44,338 in their early career salary.

More information about a master’s in criminology from Alliant International University

Best Criminology Colleges by State

Explore the best criminology colleges for a specific state in the Far Western US Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
California	253	72
Washington	183	2
Nevada	105	4

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Rankings in Majors Related to Criminology

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Criminology Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Criminology	78

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.