2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Criminology in California
Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Criminology Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
Criminology is the 82nd most popular major in the country with 10,182 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, criminology graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $32,583 and had an average of $24,397 in loans still to pay off.
Across California, there were 1,416 criminology graduates with average earnings and debt of $35,967 and $21,881 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 1,342 criminology graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Criminology Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking looked at 9 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in criminology. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent criminology programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.
Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the criminology program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.
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Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Criminology Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” list, to help you choose the best school for you.
One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.
Best Value Criminology Schools for a Bachelor’s in California
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Criminology Schools for a Bachelor’s in California.
Top 9 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Criminology in California
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California State University - Fresno. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Criminology Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. This large school is located in Fresno, California, and it awarded 430 bachelors’s criminology degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Fresno State, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Criminology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Fresno State is $5,464 for california bachelor’s degree criminology students.
The student loan default rate at the school is 4.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%.
Read full report on Criminology at California State University - Fresno
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - San Marcos. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Criminology Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. California State University - San Marcos is a public institution located in San Marcos, California. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 278 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree criminology students list, CSUSM has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Criminology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $13,399 for California Bachelor’s Degree Criminology students per year to attend CSUSM.
The low student loan default rate of 4.2% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read full report on Criminology at California State University - San Marcos
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Irvine. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Criminology Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. University of California - Irvine is a public institution located in Irvine, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 429 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree criminology students list, UC Irvine has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Criminology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $14,783 for California Bachelor’s Degree Criminology students per year to attend UC Irvine.
With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Criminology at University of California - Irvine
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Humboldt State University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Criminology Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. Humboldt State University is a medium-sized public school situated in Arcata, California. It awarded 55 bachelors’s criminology degrees in 2019-2020.
Humboldt State University also made our “Best Criminology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #9. The yearly cost to attend Humboldt State University is $14,692 for California Bachelor’s Degree Criminology students.
Read full report on Criminology at Humboldt State University
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Azusa Pacific University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Criminology Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. Azusa Pacific University is a medium-sized school located in Azusa, California that handed out 13 bachelors’s criminology degrees in 2019-2020.
Azusa Pacific not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Criminology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for Azusa Pacific is $26,293 for california bachelor’s degree criminology students.
The student loan default rate at the school is 3.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
Holy Names University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Criminology Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. This small school is located in Oakland, California, and it awarded 13 bachelors’s criminology degrees in 2019-2020.
HNU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Criminology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for Holy Names University is $23,034 for California Bachelor’s Degree Criminology students.
The low student loan default rate of 3.5% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
Mount Saint Mary’s University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Criminology Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking, coming in at #7. Los Angeles, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s criminology degrees to 16 students in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree criminology students list, MSMU has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best Criminology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for MSMU is $29,214 for california bachelor’s degree criminology students.
The student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
University of La Verne landed the #8 spot on the 2022 Best Value Criminology Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. ULV is a medium-sized school located in La Verne, California that handed out 55 bachelors’s criminology degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at ULV, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Criminology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $25,780 for california bachelor’s degree criminology students per year to attend University of La Verne.
The student loan default rate at the school is 3.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
California Lutheran University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Criminology Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. Thousand Oaks, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s criminology degrees to 53 students in 2019-2020.
CLU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Criminology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend California Lutheran University is $26,489 for California Bachelor’s Degree Criminology students.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
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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.
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