2025 Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Associate Degree Schools in Tennessee

Ranked #4 in popularity, criminal justice & corrections is one of the most sought-after associate degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in Tennessee to determine which ones were the best for criminal justice & corrections students pursuing a associate degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 246 associate degrees in criminal justice & corrections during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Average Early-Career Salaries

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their associate degree from the school. After all, your associate 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

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on criminal justice & corrections students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of criminal justice & corrections students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for criminal justice & corrections to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized criminal justice & corrections related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for criminal justice & corrections students working on their associate degree.

More Ways to Rank Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools

The criminal justice school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Associate Degree Schools in Tennessee.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Criminal Justice & Corrections in Tennessee

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for criminal justice & corrections students seeking a an associate degree.

Top Tennessee Schools for an Associate in Criminal Justice

1

Bethel University
McKenzie, TN

92 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat Bethel University if you wish to pursue an associate degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the town of McKenzie, Bethel is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a associate in criminal justice & corrections from Bethel University

2

Walters State Community College
Morristown, TN

20 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat Walters State Community College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the city of Morristown, WSCC is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a associate in criminal justice & corrections from Walters State Community College

Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Colleges in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Mississippi	143	170
Georgia	121	646
Florida	121	818
North Carolina	120	789
Arkansas	105	197
Virginia	97	571
West Virginia	92	211
Kentucky	90	244
Louisiana	80	260
South Carolina	77	278
Alabama	69	278

View All Rankings >

Criminal Justice & Corrections Related Rankings by Major

Criminal Justice & Corrections is one of 4 different types of Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting programs to choose from.

Criminal Justice Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Criminal Justice Studies	171
Criminal Justice & Police Science	63
Other Corrections & Criminal Justice	12

Most Popular Majors Related to Criminal Justice

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Fire Protection	38

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.