Criminal Justice is of the hottest degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #27 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 8 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Criminal Justice Schools in Kentucky ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 1,288 degrees in criminal justice to qualified students.
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 rankings. We derive our Best Overall Criminal Justice 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.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Criminal Justice Schools in Kentucky list, to help you choose the best school for you.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the criminal justice degrees they offer, see the list below.
It's difficult to beat University of Louisville if you want to pursue a degree in criminal justice. UofL is a fairly large public university located in the city of Louisville. A Best Colleges rank of #421 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UofL is a great university overall.
There were approximately 269 criminal justice students who graduated with this degree at UofL in the most recent year we have data available.
Every student who is interested in criminal justice has to take a look at Eastern Kentucky University. Located in the distant town of Richmond, Eastern is a public university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #1198 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Eastern is a great university overall.
There were roughly 162 criminal justice students who graduated with this degree at Eastern in the most recent year we have data available.
University of the Cumberlands is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in criminal justice. Located in the town of Williamsburg, Cumberlands is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #1053 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Cumberlands is a great university overall.
There were approximately 96 criminal justice students who graduated with this degree at Cumberlands in the most recent year we have data available.
Jefferson Community and Technical College is a wonderful option for students interested in a degree in criminal justice. Jefferson Community and Technical College is a fairly large public college located in the large city of Louisville. A Best Colleges rank of #1213 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Jefferson Community and Technical College is a great college overall.
There were about 57 criminal justice students who graduated with this degree at Jefferson Community and Technical College in the most recent year we have data available.
Bluegrass Community and Technical College is a large public college located in the city of Lexington. This college ranks 14th out of 39 schools for overall quality in the state of Kentucky.
There were approximately 275 criminal justice students who graduated with this degree at Bluegrass Community and Technical College in the most recent data year.
Campbellsville University is a large private not-for-profit university located in the distant town of Campbellsville. This university ranks 23rd out of 39 schools for overall quality in the state of Kentucky.
There were about 34 criminal justice students who graduated with this degree at Campbellsville University in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the city of Ashland, ACTC is a public college with a small student population. This college ranks 30th out of 39 colleges for overall quality in the state of Kentucky.
There were roughly 16 criminal justice students who graduated with this degree at ACTC in the most recent data year.
Located in the town of Somerset, SCC is a public college with a moderately-sized student population. This college ranks 32nd out of 39 schools for overall quality in the state of Kentucky.
There were roughly 93 criminal justice students who graduated with this degree at SCC in the most recent data year.
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 rankings. We derive our Best Overall Criminal Justice School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
