Criminology is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #80 most popular degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 138 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Criminology Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 10,878 degrees in criminology to qualified students.
Your choice of criminology school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Criminology School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
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 list to help you make the college decision.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the criminology degree levels they offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
It is hard to beat University of Maryland - College Park if you want to pursue a degree in criminology. UMCP is a very large public university located in the suburb of College Park. A Best Colleges rank of #37 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UMCP is a great university overall.
There were about 443 criminology students who graduated with this degree at UMCP in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the criminology degree program at University of Maryland - College Park get $4,660 above the standard graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
University of California - Irvine is one of the finest schools in the country 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. After graduation, criminology degree recipients generally make an average of $37,341 in the first five years of their career.
It's hard to beat University of Florida if you wish to pursue a degree in criminology. Located in the medium-sized city of Gainesville, UF is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #56 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UF is a great university overall.
There were about 191 criminology students who graduated with this degree at UF in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, criminology degree recipients typically make around $35,096 at the beginning of their careers.
It's hard to beat University of Pennsylvania if you want to pursue a degree in criminology. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #2 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.
There were approximately 39 criminology students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent year we have data available.
UD is a very large public university located in the large suburb of Newark. A Best Colleges rank of #96 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UD is a great university overall.
There were approximately 160 criminology students who graduated with this degree at UD in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, criminology degree recipients usually make an average of $35,968 in the first five years of their career.
USF Tampa is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Tampa. This university ranks 8th out of 70 colleges for overall quality in the state of Florida.
There were roughly 477 criminology students who graduated with this degree at USF Tampa in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the criminology program report average early career wages of $37,108.
Located in the city of Minneapolis, UMN Twin Cities is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #45 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UMN Twin Cities is a great university overall.
There were roughly 129 criminology students who graduated with this degree at UMN Twin Cities in the most recent data year. Those criminology students who get their degree from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities make $2,742 more than the typical criminology graduate.
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.
Ohio State is a fairly large public university located in the city of Columbus. A Best Colleges rank of #70 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Ohio State is a great university overall.
There were approximately 143 criminology students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the criminology program state that they receive average early career earnings of $39,396.
UNH is a fairly large public university located in the town of Durham. A Best Colleges rank of #151 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UNH is a great university overall.
There were roughly 99 criminology students who graduated with this degree at UNH in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the criminology program report average early career wages of $39,814.
Located in the distant town of Pullman, Wazzu is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 3rd out of 50 colleges for overall quality in the state of Washington.
There were roughly 174 criminology students who graduated with this degree at Wazzu in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the city of Flagstaff, NAU is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 7th out of 26 colleges for overall quality in the state of Arizona.
There were about 250 criminology students who graduated with this degree at NAU in the most recent data year. After graduating, criminology degree recipients typically earn an average of $37,214 in their early careers.
Navigating today's complex criminal justice system takes a great communicator with real–world perspective. The goal of SNHU's Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice is to get you there. You'll learn from professionals across all disciplines who bring their experience to the classroom.
St. Anselm College is a small private not-for-profit college located in the medium-sized suburb of Manchester. This college ranks 4th out of 17 schools for overall quality in the state of New Hampshire.
There were approximately 48 criminology students who graduated with this degree at St. Anselm College in the most recent year we have data available. Criminology degree recipients from Saint Anselm College earn a boost of approximately $7,776 over the average income of criminology graduates.
Lasell is a small private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Newton. This university ranks 43rd out of 63 schools for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.
There were approximately 81 criminology students who graduated with this degree at Lasell in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the criminology program make about $40,527 for their early career.
Iowa is a very large public university located in the city of Iowa City. A Best Colleges rank of #80 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Iowa is a great university overall.
There were about 86 criminology students who graduated with this degree at Iowa in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the criminology program report average early career wages of $38,520.
St. Joe's is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #105 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means St. Joe's is a great university overall.
There were approximately 117 criminology students who graduated with this degree at St. Joe's in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the criminology major at Saint Joseph's University earn $14,331 above the average graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
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.
SIUC is a fairly large public university located in the town of Carbondale. This university ranks 36th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were approximately 81 criminology students who graduated with this degree at SIUC in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the criminology program make around $37,645 for their early career.
UA is a fairly large public university located in the city of Tuscaloosa. This university ranks 3rd out of 42 colleges for overall quality in the state of Alabama.
There were roughly 286 criminology students who graduated with this degree at UA in the most recent data year.
Located in the distant town of Indiana, IUP is a public university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 54th out of 103 schools for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.
There were roughly 169 criminology students who graduated with this degree at IUP in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the criminology program state that they receive average early career income of $39,022.
Located in the suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #34 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Villanova is a great university overall.
There were roughly 21 criminology students who graduated with this degree at Villanova in the most recent data year.
Located in the large suburb of Buffalo, University at Buffalo is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 18th out of 136 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were roughly 41 criminology students who graduated with this degree at University at Buffalo in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the medium-sized city of Norfolk, Old Dominion is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 16th out of 57 colleges for overall quality in the state of Virginia.
There were approximately 217 criminology students who graduated with this degree at Old Dominion in the most recent data year. After graduation, criminology degree recipients usually earn an average of $37,255 in their early careers.
UMN Duluth is a moderately-sized public university located in the city of Duluth. This university ranks 17th out of 52 colleges for overall quality in the state of Minnesota.
There were roughly 56 criminology students who graduated with this degree at UMN Duluth in the most recent data year. Those criminology students who get their degree from University of Minnesota - Duluth make $3,524 more than the standard criminology student.
Located in the large city of Milwaukee, Marquette is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #114 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Marquette is a great university overall.
There were approximately 81 criminology students who graduated with this degree at Marquette in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, criminology degree recipients generally make an average of $35,650 in the first five years of their career.
Stockton State is a medium-sized public university located in the rural area of Galloway. This university ranks 19th out of 45 colleges for overall quality in the state of New Jersey.
There were approximately 180 criminology students who graduated with this degree at Stockton State in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, criminology degree recipients typically make an average of $34,596 in the first five years of their career.
Located in the midsize city of Springfield, Missouri State is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 10th out of 48 colleges for overall quality in the state of Missouri.
There were approximately 134 criminology students who graduated with this degree at Missouri State in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the criminology program state that they receive average early career income of $36,185.
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Criminology Schools award.
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. For our Best Overall Criminology School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
