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2025 Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

19 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
523 Master's Degrees
$58,657 Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #30 in popularity, criminal justice & corrections is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 19 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 523 master's degrees in criminal justice & corrections to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Criminal Justice & Corrections School for Your Master's Degree

Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region Your choice of criminal justice & corrections for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality criminal justice program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Criminal Justice Rankings Other Ranking Categories

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 Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Criminal Justice & Corrections in the Great Lakes Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections.

10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Master's in Criminal Justice

1

University of Cincinnati - Main Campus is a good decision for students interested in a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. UC is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Cincinnati.

Students who graduate with their master's from the criminal justice program state that they receive average early career earnings of $51,130.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus

2
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI

Michigan State University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the small city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a very large student population.

Those criminal justice & corrections students who get their master's degree from Michigan State University earn $16,778 more than the typical criminal justice student.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Michigan State University

3
Lewis crest
Lewis University
Romeoville, IL

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections has to look into Lewis University. Located in the suburb of Romeoville, Lewis is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.

Criminal Justice & Corrections master's degree recipients from Lewis University earn a boost of about $37,489 above the typical income of criminal justice & corrections graduates.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Lewis University

4
12 Annual Graduates

Grand Valley State University is a great decision for students pursuing a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the fringe town of Allendale, GVSU is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Grand Valley State University

5

WIU is a medium-sized public university located in the town of Macomb.

Students who graduate with their master's from the criminal justice program state that they receive average early career wages of $49,381.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Western Illinois University

6

Located in the large city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the criminal justice program report average early career earnings of $45,302.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Loyola University Chicago

7
Purdue University Global crest
Purdue University Global
West Lafayette, IN

Located in the small city of West Lafayette, Purdue University Global is a public university with a very large student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the criminal justice program earn about $51,495 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Purdue University Global

8
Xavier crest
Xavier University
Cincinnati, OH

Xavier is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Cincinnati.

After graduating, criminal justice master's recipients generally make an average of $55,144 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Xavier University

9
Aurora crest
Aurora University
Aurora, IL
11 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Aurora University

10
Tiffin University crest
Tiffin University
Tiffin, OH

Tiffin University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the town of Tiffin.

Criminal Justice & Corrections master's degree recipients from Tiffin University get an earnings boost of approximately $2,810 over the average earnings of criminal justice & corrections graduates.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Tiffin University

Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Colleges by State

Explore the best criminal justice & corrections colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Illinois 221 178
Michigan 211 77
Ohio 207 211
Indiana 191 101
Wisconsin 173 43

View All Rankings >

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

Criminal Justice Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Criminal Justice Studies 291
Criminal Justice 182
Criminal Justice and Corrections, General 21
Other Corrections & Criminal Justice 17
Securities Services Administration/Management 12

Majors Similar to Criminal Justice

Related Major Annual Graduates
Other Homeland Security 90
Fire Protection 69
Security Science and Technology 54

Notes and References

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