2025 Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools in the Plains States Region
74Colleges in the Plains States Region
5,408Criminal Justice Degrees Awarded
$40,755Avg Early-Career Salary
Criminal Justice & Corrections is of the hottest degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #7 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 74 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for criminal justice & corrections students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 5,408 degrees in criminal justice & corrections to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Criminal Justice & Corrections School
The criminal justice program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Criminal Justice & Corrections rankings. We derive our Best Overall Criminal Justice & Corrections School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Criminal Justice & Corrections Rankings by Degree Level
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 Schools in the Plains States Region list to help you make the college decision.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Best Schools for Criminal Justice & Corrections in the Plains States Region
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the criminal justice degree levels they offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
14 Top Plains States Region Schools in Criminal Justice
It's hard to beat Minnesota State University - Mankato if you wish to pursue a degree in criminal justice & corrections. Minnesota State Mankato is a large public university located in the small city of Mankato. A Best Colleges rank of #412 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Minnesota State Mankato is a great university overall.
There were approximately 99 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at Minnesota State Mankato in the most recent data year. Those criminal justice & corrections students who get their degree from Minnesota State University - Mankato earn $8,264 more than the standard criminal justice student.
Alexandria Technical & Community College is a great choice for students pursuing a degree in criminal justice & corrections. ATCC is a small public college located in the town of Alexandria. This college ranks 41st out of 52 schools for overall quality in the state of Minnesota.
There were about 148 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at ATCC in the most recent data year. Those criminal justice & corrections students who get their degree from Alexandria Technical & Community College receive $8,210 more than the typical criminal justice graduate.
Any student who is interested in criminal justice & corrections needs to check out Metropolitan State University. Metro State is a moderately-sized public university located in the large city of Saint Paul. This university ranks 44th out of 52 schools for overall quality in the state of Minnesota.
There were approximately 95 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at Metro State in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the criminal justice & corrections program at Metropolitan State University make $11,370 above the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Century College is a great choice for students pursuing a degree in criminal justice & corrections. Century College is a moderately-sized public college located in the suburb of White Bear Lake. A Best Colleges rank of #486 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Century College is a great college overall.
There were about 96 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at Century College in the most recent year we have data available. Criminal Justice & Corrections degree recipients from Century College get an earnings boost of about $13,419 over the average earnings of criminal justice & corrections graduates.
Iowa State is a very large public university located in the city of Ames. A Best Colleges rank of #88 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Iowa State is a great university overall.
There were approximately 132 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at Iowa State in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the criminal justice program state that they receive average early career income of $41,624.
UNOMAHA is a large public university located in the city of Omaha. A Best Colleges rank of #776 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UNOMAHA is a great university overall.
There were roughly 254 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at UNOMAHA in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the criminal justice program report average early career wages of $41,011.
Located in the rural area of Fergus Falls, M State is a public college with a moderately-sized student population. This college ranks 34th out of 52 colleges for overall quality in the state of Minnesota.
There were roughly 20 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at M State in the most recent data year.
Located in the town of Warrensburg, UCM is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 21st out of 48 schools for overall quality in the state of Missouri.
There were about 128 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at UCM in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the criminal justice program state that they receive average early career wages of $38,266.
Located in the fringe town of Indianola, Simpson College is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. This college ranks 12th out of 37 colleges for overall quality in the state of Iowa.
There were roughly 29 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at Simpson College in the most recent data year. Criminal Justice & Corrections degree recipients from Simpson College get an earnings boost of about $2,107 over the average income of criminal justice & corrections majors.
Located in the city of St. Cloud, Rasmussen University - Minnesota is a private for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #129 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Rasmussen University - Minnesota is a great university overall.
There were roughly 77 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at Rasmussen University - Minnesota in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the criminal justice & corrections program at Rasmussen University - Minnesota get $5,589 more than the average graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Located in the midsize city of Fargo, North Dakota State University is a public university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #382 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means North Dakota State University is a great university overall.
There were approximately 48 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at North Dakota State University in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, criminal justice degree recipients usually earn around $38,057 in the first five years of their career.
Located in the large city of Saint Louis, SLU is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #243 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means SLU is a great university overall.
There were about 30 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at SLU in the most recent year we have data available. Criminal Justice & Corrections degree recipients from Saint Louis University earn a boost of approximately $4,954 over the average earnings of criminal justice & corrections graduates.
Located in the city of Saint Cloud, St. Cloud State University is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 33rd out of 52 colleges for overall quality in the state of Minnesota.
There were approximately 57 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at St. Cloud State University in the most recent year we have data available. Those criminal justice & corrections students who get their degree from Saint Cloud State University earn $8,657 more than the typical criminal justice graduate.
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College is a small public college located in the town of Cloquet. This college ranks 1464th out of 2,152 colleges for overall quality nationwide.
There were roughly 45 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the criminal justice & corrections program at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College earn $10,389 more than the typical college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools in the Plains States Region award.
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).
The criminal justice program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Criminal Justice & Corrections rankings. We derive our Best Overall Criminal Justice & Corrections School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
