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2025 Best Criminal Justice Schools in Missouri

8 Colleges in Missouri
725 Criminal Justice Degrees Awarded
If you pursue a degree in criminal justice, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #27 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 8 schools in Missouri to determine which ones were the best for criminal justice students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 725 degrees in criminal justice to qualified students.

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

Choosing a Great Criminal Justice School

Best Criminal Justice Schools in Missouri Your choice of criminal justice school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for criminal justice schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

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

Pick Your Criminal Justice Degree Level

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

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 Schools in Missouri. 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 in Missouri

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

Top Missouri Schools in Criminal Justice

1
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In MO
123 Criminal Justice Degrees Awarded

University of Central Missouri is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in criminal justice. UCM is a large public university located in the town of Warrensburg. A Best Colleges rank of #1241 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCM is a great university overall.

There were approximately 123 criminal justice students who graduated with this degree at UCM in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in criminal justice from University of Central Missouri

2
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In MO
91 Criminal Justice Degrees Awarded

Any student pursuing a degree in criminal justice needs to take a look at Missouri Southern State University. Located in the city of Joplin, Missouri Southern is a public university with a small student population. This university ranks 28th out of 48 colleges for overall quality in the state of Missouri.

There were about 91 criminal justice students who graduated with this degree at Missouri Southern in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in criminal justice from Missouri Southern State University

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
Columbia College Missouri crest
Columbia College
Columbia, MO
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In MO
166 Criminal Justice Degrees Awarded

Columbia College is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in criminal justice. Columbia College Missouri is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit college located in the midsize city of Columbia. A Best Colleges rank of #634 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Columbia College Missouri is a great college overall.

There were approximately 166 criminal justice students who graduated with this degree at Columbia College Missouri in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in criminal justice from Columbia College

4
Park University crest
Park University
Parkville, MO
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In MO
167 Criminal Justice Degrees Awarded

Park University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in criminal justice. Located in the large suburb of Parkville, Park University is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #751 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Park University is a great university overall.

There were approximately 167 criminal justice students who graduated with this degree at Park University in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in criminal justice from Park University

5
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
76 Criminal Justice Degrees Awarded

Drury University - CCPS is a fairly small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Springfield.More information about a degree in criminal justice from Drury University - College of Continuing Professional Studies

6
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
5th Most Popular In MO

Culver - Stockton is a small private not-for-profit college located in the rural area of Canton.

There were approximately 13 criminal justice students who graduated with this degree at Culver - Stockton in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in criminal justice from Culver - Stockton College

7
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
7th Most Popular In MO

CMU CLAS is a small private not-for-profit university located in the rural area of Fayette. This university ranks 41st out of 48 schools for overall quality in the state of Missouri.

There were about 15 criminal justice students who graduated with this degree at CMU CLAS in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in criminal justice from Central Methodist University - College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

8
LU Missouri crest
Lincoln University
Jefferson City, MO
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In MO

Located in the small city of Jefferson City, LU Missouri is a public university with a small student population. This university ranks 45th out of 48 colleges for overall quality in the state of Missouri.

There were about 15 criminal justice students who graduated with this degree at LU Missouri in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in criminal justice from Lincoln University

Best Criminal Justice Colleges in the Plains States Region

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Minnesota 742 314
Iowa 648 91
Kansas 599 281
Nebraska 500 21
North Dakota 416 2
South Dakota 381 0

View All Rankings >

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

Related Major Annual Graduates
Criminal Justice & Police Science 320
Criminal Justice Studies 264
Corrections 85
Law Enforcement Investigation & Interviewing 50
Criminal Justice and Corrections, General 22
Securities Services Administration/Management 11
Juvenile Corrections 10
Corrections Administration 7

View All Criminal Justice Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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