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Best Colleges for Criminal Justice

50 Criminal Justice programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion — from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

⚡Quick answer

For Criminal Justice, Delaware County Community College (Pennsylvania) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $88,630. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion — not reputation or cost — across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	Delaware County Community College Media, PA	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$88,630	$5,100	88	96.7
2	Erie Community College Buffalo, NY	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$92,087	$9,250	101	96.3
3	Lackawanna College Scranton, PA	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$85,937	$4,865	74	96.2
4	Hennepin Technical College Brooklyn Park, MN	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$73,991	$5,329	205	95
5	Palm Beach State College Lake Worth, FL	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$78,216	$4,892	73	94.9
6	Aims Community College Greeley, CO	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$83,753	$5,500	25	92.7
7	Union Institute & University	Bachelor's Degree	$128,406	$18,750	159	92.6
8	Hillsborough Community College Tampa, FL	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$66,994	$8,127	294	91.4
9	Salve Regina University Newport, RI	Master's Degree	$116,495	$18,729	54	90.7
10	Butler Technology and Career Development Schools Monroe, OH	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$69,254	$6,957	52	90.5
11	Jamestown Community College Jamestown, NY	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$80,192	$9,500	17	89.7
12	Grand Rapids Community College Grand Rapids, MI	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$67,559	$9,000	68	89.6
13	Santa Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa, CA	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$106,298	—	452	89.4
14	University of Massachusetts-Lowell Lowell, MA	Master's Degree	$109,714	$20,500	87	89.2
15	Excelsior University Albany, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$75,828	$14,583	55	89.2
16	Rasmussen University-Minnesota St. Cloud, MN	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$79,160	$6,515	10	89.1
17	Chippewa Valley Technical College Eau Claire, WI	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$69,512	$11,000	60	89.1
18	San Diego Miramar College San Diego, CA	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$105,621	—	181	88.8
19	San Bernardino Valley College San Bernardino, CA	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$99,385	—	187	88.8
20	Lake Region State College Devils Lake, ND	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$68,205	$4,750	32	88.8
21	Northcentral Technical College Wausau, WI	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$67,938	$4,750	32	88.8
22	Calumet College of Saint Joseph Whiting, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$106,465	$19,500	41	88.6
23	George Washington University Washington, DC	Bachelor's Degree	$80,070	$19,500	86	88.5
24	Moreno Valley College Moreno Valley, CA	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$89,812	—	242	88.5
25	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$69,511	$17,750	329	87.9
26	Columbia Southern University Orange Beach, AL	Associate's Degree	$66,000	$12,140	130	87.9
27	Red Rocks Community College Lakewood, CO	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$88,122	—	138	87.7
28	Eastland-Fairfield Career and Technical Schools Groveport, OH	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$65,241	$4,558	39	87.6
29	Community College of Baltimore County Baltimore, MD	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$79,891	—	320	87.5
30	Alexandria Technical & Community College Alexandria, MN	Associate's Degree	$67,066	$12,000	64	87.4
31	Gateway Technical College Kenosha, WI	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$82,828	—	145	87.3
32	Fox Valley Technical College Appleton, WI	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$64,741	$9,680	75	87.2
33	Great Oaks Career Campuses Cincinnati, OH	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$73,204	$6,992	9	87.1
34	Butte College Oroville, CA	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$82,708	—	118	87
35	Owens Community College Perrysburg, OH	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$63,966	$8,174	59	86.8
36	Columbus State University Columbus, GA	Master's Degree	$94,267	—	56	86.6
37	Oakland Community College Auburn Hills, MI	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$81,626	—	98	86.6
38	Southwestern Illinois College Belleville, IL	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$77,912	—	196	86.5
39	University of Massachusetts-Lowell Lowell, MA	Graduate/Professional Certificate	$97,509	—	47	86.4
40	Yuba College Marysville, CA	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$79,313	—	109	86.3
41	Siena Heights University Adrian, MI	Bachelor's Degree	$72,791	$19,286	62	86.1
42	Columbia Southern University Orange Beach, AL	Bachelor's Degree	$70,354	$20,209	245	86
43	California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$64,835	$15,000	238	85.9
44	University of Maryland Global Campus Adelphi, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$69,848	$20,406	353	85.8
45	Waukesha County Technical College Pewaukee, WI	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$86,096	—	52	85.8
46	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus Tacoma, WA	Bachelor's Degree	$63,311	$11,628	101	85.8
47	Front Range Community College Westminster, CO	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$90,593	—	41	85.6
48	Northeastern University Boston, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$77,477	$20,889	62	85.5
49	Monroe Community College Rochester, NY	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$113,262	—	31	85.3
50	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$63,764	$14,992	266	85.2

🔍 Filter Criminal Justice by state & degree level →

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Hidden Gems for Criminal Justice

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Criminal Justice — the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	Delaware County Community College Media, PA Strong Criminal Justice outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$88,630	—	96.7
2	Erie Community College Buffalo, NY Strong Criminal Justice outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$92,087	—	96.3
3	Lackawanna College Scranton, PA Strong Criminal Justice outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$85,937	—	96.2
4	Hennepin Technical College Brooklyn Park, MN Strong Criminal Justice outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$73,991	—	95
5	Aims Community College Greeley, CO Strong Criminal Justice outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$83,753	—	92.7
6	Union Institute & University Strong Criminal Justice outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$128,406	—	92.6
7	Butler Technology and Career Development Schools Monroe, OH Strong Criminal Justice outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$69,254	—	90.5
8	Jamestown Community College Jamestown, NY Strong Criminal Justice outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$80,192	—	89.7
9	Rasmussen University-Minnesota St. Cloud, MN Strong Criminal Justice outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$79,160	—	89.1
10	Chippewa Valley Technical College Eau Claire, WI Strong Criminal Justice outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$69,512	—	89.1
11	Lake Region State College Devils Lake, ND Strong Criminal Justice outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$68,205	—	88.8
12	Northcentral Technical College Wausau, WI Strong Criminal Justice outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$67,938	—	88.8

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0–100 within the Criminal Justice field (CIP 43.01) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Criminal Justice programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded — never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best Criminal Justice program?+

By our outcome score, Delaware County Community College (Pennsylvania) ranks #1 for Criminal Justice, with median graduate earnings of $88,630.

How are these Criminal Justice programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0–100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter Criminal Justice programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

Keep exploring

🔍 Criminal Justice rankings (filterable)🎓 All major rankings 🏫 Browse colleges 🆓 Tuition-free colleges ⭐ All Best-Of guides

Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “—” and never estimated. CertiHomes Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.