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2025 Best Criminal Justice Studies Schools in Iowa

10 Colleges in Iowa
449 Criminal Justice Studies Degrees Awarded
If you pursue a degree in criminal justice studies, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #16 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 10 schools in Iowa to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of criminal justice studies. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 449 degrees in criminal justice studies annually.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Criminal Justice Studies School

Best Criminal Justice Studies Schools in Iowa Your choice of criminal justice studies school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Criminal Justice Studies School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Pick Your Criminal Justice Studies Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Criminal Justice Studies
Bachelor's Degrees in Criminal Justice Studies
Master's Degrees in Criminal Justice Studies

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 Studies Schools in Iowa list to help you make the college decision. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Criminal Justice Studies in Iowa

The schools below may not offer all types of criminal justice studies degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.

10 Top Iowa Schools in Criminal Justice Studies

1
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In IA
132 Criminal Justice Studies Degrees Awarded

Iowa State University is a great option for students pursuing a degree in criminal justice studies. Located in the city of Ames, Iowa State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #88 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Iowa State is a great university overall.

There were roughly 132 criminal justice studies students who graduated with this degree at Iowa State in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in criminal justice studies from Iowa State University

2
Simpson College crest
Simpson College
Indianola, IA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In IA
8.0% Growth in Graduates

Simpson College is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in criminal justice studies. Simpson College is a small private not-for-profit college located in the town of Indianola. A Best Colleges rank of #790 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Simpson College is a great college overall.

There were roughly 25 criminal justice studies students who graduated with this degree at Simpson College in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in criminal justice studies from Simpson College

Sponsored
Bachelors Degree Type
BS in Criminal Justice - Criminology & Crime Analysis Program Name

Track and understand criminal behavior by earning a BS in Criminal Justice with a concentration in Criminology & Crime Analysis.

More information about a degree in BS in Criminal Justice - Criminology & Crime Analysis from Southern New Hampshire University
3
Waldorf crest
Waldorf University
Forest City, IA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In IA
35 Criminal Justice Studies Degrees Awarded

Every student who is interested in criminal justice studies needs to take a look at Waldorf University. Located in the remote area of Forest City, Waldorf is a private for-profit university with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #806 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Waldorf is a great university overall.

There were roughly 35 criminal justice studies students who graduated with this degree at Waldorf in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in criminal justice studies from Waldorf University

4
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In IA
11.5% Growth in Graduates

Des Moines Area Community College is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in criminal justice studies. Located in the suburb of Ankeny, DMACC is a public college with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #408 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means DMACC is a great college overall.

There were approximately 26 criminal justice studies students who graduated with this degree at DMACC in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in criminal justice studies from Des Moines Area Community College

5
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

Located in the city of Sioux City, Western Iowa Tech Community College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population. This college ranks 32nd out of 37 schools for overall quality in the state of Iowa.More information about a degree in criminal justice studies from Western Iowa Tech Community College

6
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
19th Most Popular In IA
75.0% Growth in Graduates

Hawkeye Community College is a small public college located in the rural area of Waterloo. This college ranks 23rd out of 37 schools for overall quality in the state of Iowa.

There were approximately 4 criminal justice studies students who graduated with this degree at Hawkeye Community College in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in criminal justice studies from Hawkeye Community College

7
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
13th Most Popular In IA

Iowa Central Community College is a small public college located in the remote town of Fort Dodge. A Best Colleges rank of #498 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Iowa Central Community College is a great college overall.

There were approximately 4 criminal justice studies students who graduated with this degree at Iowa Central Community College in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in criminal justice studies from Iowa Central Community College

8
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In IA

Located in the small city of Dubuque, UD is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 31st out of 37 colleges for overall quality in the state of Iowa.

There were about 28 criminal justice studies students who graduated with this degree at UD in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in criminal justice studies from University of Dubuque

9
Grand View University crest
Grand View University
Des Moines, IA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In IA

Grand View University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Des Moines. This university ranks 33rd out of 37 schools for overall quality in the state of Iowa.

There were approximately 23 criminal justice studies students who graduated with this degree at Grand View University in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in criminal justice studies from Grand View University

10
BVU crest
Buena Vista University
Storm Lake, IA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
5th Most Popular In IA

Located in the town of Storm Lake, BVU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 30th out of 37 schools for overall quality in the state of Iowa.

There were roughly 18 criminal justice studies students who graduated with this degree at BVU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in criminal justice studies from Buena Vista University

Best Criminal Justice Studies Colleges in the Plains States Region

Explore all the Best Criminal Justice Studies Schools in the Plains States Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Minnesota 742 665
Missouri 693 264
Kansas 599 211
Nebraska 500 492
North Dakota 416 210
South Dakota 381 100

View All Rankings >

One of 21 majors within the Criminal Justice & Corrections area of study, Criminal Justice Studies has other similar majors worth exploring.

Majors Similar to Criminal Justice Studies

Related Major Annual Graduates
Criminal Justice & Police Science 149
Criminal Justice 51
Other Corrections & Criminal Justice 7

View All Criminal Justice Studies Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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