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Most Popular Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools

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2023 Most Popular Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools

331 Colleges
$35,465 Avg Salary
$25,425 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Criminal Justice & Corrections School for You

Criminal Justice & Corrections is the #36 most popular major in the country with 7,783 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Most Popular Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 331 schools in the United States to see which ones were the most popular programs for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Criminal Justice & Corrections program at each school on the list.

The colleges and universities below are the most popular for criminal justice majors pursuing a .

#1

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA

Our analysis found Liberty University to be the most popular school for criminal justice and corrections students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Located in the small city of Lynchburg, Liberty University is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Liberty University

Out of the 331 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, John Jay College of Criminal Justice landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the city of New York, John Jay is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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Out of the 331 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern New Hampshire University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Manchester, SNHU is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Southern New Hampshire University

#5

Saint Leo University

Saint Leo, FL

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Saint Leo University is a great place for criminal justice and corrections students. St. Leo University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Saint Leo.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Saint Leo University

University of Phoenix - Arizona came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Tempe, UOPX - Arizona is a private for-profit college with a very large student population.

Full Criminal Justice & Corrections at University of Phoenix - Arizona Report

With a ranking of #7, Arizona State University - Skysong did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for criminal justice and corrections students. ASU - Skysong is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Scottsdale.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Arizona State University - Skysong

American Public University System did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for criminal justice and corrections students. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the fringe town of Charles Town, American Military University is a private for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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#9

University of New Haven

West Haven, CT

With a ranking of #9, University of New Haven did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for criminal justice and corrections students. University of New Haven is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of West Haven.

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University of Cincinnati - Main Campus came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools ranking. Located in the city of Cincinnati, UC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at University of Cincinnati - Main Campus

#11

Sam Houston State University

Huntsville, TX

Sam Houston State University came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools ranking. SHSU is a very large public school located in the distant town of Huntsville.

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#12

University of San Diego

San Diego, CA

With a ranking of #12, University of San Diego did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for criminal justice and corrections students. USD is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Diego.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at University of San Diego

#13

Grand Canyon University

Phoenix, AZ

With a ranking of #13, Grand Canyon University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for criminal justice and corrections students. Located in the city of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit college with a very large student population.

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University of Massachusetts - Lowell ranked #14 on this year’s Most Popular Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools list. UMass Lowell is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Lowell.

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With a ranking of #15, University of Central Florida did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for criminal justice and corrections students. Located in the suburb of Orlando, UCF is a public college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at University of Central Florida

With a ranking of #16, Colorado Technical University - Colorado Springs did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for criminal justice and corrections students. Colorado Technical University - Colorado Springs is a very large private for-profit school located in the large city of Colorado Springs.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Colorado Technical University - Colorado Springs

#18

Capella University

Minneapolis, MN

With a ranking of #18, Capella University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for criminal justice and corrections students. Located in the city of Minneapolis, Capella University is a private for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Capella University

#19

Lamar University

Beaumont, TX

Lamar University landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular criminal justice and corrections programs. Lamar University is a fairly large public school located in the city of Beaumont.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Lamar University

#20

University of Louisville

Louisville, KY

University of Louisville came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Louisville, UofL is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at University of Louisville

#21

Grambling State University

Grambling, LA

Grambling State University ranked #21 on this year’s Most Popular Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools list. Located in the town of Grambling, GSU is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Grambling State University

#22

Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL

Florida State University landed the #22 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular criminal justice and corrections programs. Located in the city of Tallahassee, Florida State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Full Criminal Justice & Corrections at Florida State University Report

#23

Salve Regina University

Newport, RI

Salve Regina University ranked #23 on this year’s Most Popular Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools list. Located in the large suburb of Newport, Salve Regina is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Full Criminal Justice & Corrections at Salve Regina University Report

#24

Boston University

Boston, MA

Boston University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for criminal justice and corrections students. It came in at #24 on the list. Boston U is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Boston.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Boston University

#25

Faulkner University

Montgomery, AL

Faulkner University came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools ranking. Faulkner is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Montgomery.

Read More…

#26

Purdue University Global

Indianapolis, IN
#27

Wilmington University

New Castle, DE
#28

Columbus State University

Columbus, GA
#29

Nova Southeastern University

Fort Lauderdale, FL
#31

Bethel University

McKenzie, TN
#31

Columbia Southern University

Orange Beach, AL
#34

University of the Cumberlands

Williamsburg, KY
#35

University at Albany

Albany, NY
#35

Anna Maria College

Paxton, MA
#35

New England College

Henniker, NH
#35

Lewis University

Romeoville, IL
#39

Universidad del Este

Carolina, PR
#42

Troy University

Troy, AL
#44

Seattle University

Seattle, WA
#47

Tarleton State University

Stephenville, TX
#47

Monroe College

Bronx, NY
#47

National University

La Jolla, CA
#47

Northeastern University

Boston, MA

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also popular but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Most Popular Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools award.

Rank College Location
51 George Mason University Fairfax, VA
52 Texas A&M International University Laredo, TX
53 Webster University Saint Louis, MO
54 Southern University at New Orleans New Orleans, LA
54 Xavier University Cincinnati, OH
56 McNeese State University Lake Charles, LA
57 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA
58 Bellevue University Bellevue, NE
58 Southern University and A & M College Baton Rouge, LA
58 The Graduate Center, CUNY New York, NY
61 Florida International University Miami, FL
62 Roger Williams University Bristol, RI
63 Concordia University, Saint Paul Saint Paul, MN
63 University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO
65 Columbia College Columbia, MO
66 LIU Post Brookville, NY

Criminal Justice & Corrections by Region

View the Most Popular Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

Criminal Justice & Corrections is one of 4 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Homeland Security 2,759
Security Science and Technology 1,875
Other Homeland Security 456
Fire Protection 172

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • 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.

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