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2025 Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Bachelor's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

28 Colleges in Pennsylvania
1,999 Bachelor's Degrees
$38,148 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you pursue a bachelor's degree in criminal justice & corrections, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #7 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 28 schools in Pennsylvania to determine which ones were the best for criminal justice & corrections students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,999 bachelor's degrees in criminal justice & corrections during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

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

Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Bachelor's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania The criminal justice bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we consider a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

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 bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

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

More Ways to Rank Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools

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

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 & Corrections Bachelor's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list, to help you choose the best school for 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 Bachelor’s Students to Study Criminal Justice & Corrections in Pennsylvania

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in criminal justice & corrections.

10 Top Pennsylvania Schools for a Bachelor's in Criminal Justice

1
Temple crest
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA
136 Annual Graduates
$38,612 Median Starting Salary
$36,277 Median Student Debt

Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in criminal justice & corrections needs to check out Temple University. Temple is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Philadelphia.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the criminal justice program make an average of $38,612 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice & corrections from Temple University

2
51 Annual Graduates
$36,959 Median Starting Salary
$30,727 Median Student Debt

University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus is a great choice for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in criminal justice & corrections. Pitt is a fairly large public university located in the city of Pittsburgh.

After graduation, criminal justice bachelor's recipients generally earn around $36,959 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice & corrections from University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus

3

University of Scranton is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the city of Scranton, University of Scranton is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the criminal justice program make about $32,300 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice & corrections from University of Scranton

4
RMU crest
Robert Morris University
Moon Township, PA
12 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in criminal justice & corrections has to look into Robert Morris University. Located in the suburb of Moon Township, RMU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice & corrections from Robert Morris University

5
56 Annual Graduates
$41,143 Median Starting Salary
$19,095 Median Student Debt

Located in the fringe town of Shippensburg, Ship is a public university with a medium-sized student population.

Those criminal justice & corrections students who get their bachelor's degree from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania receive $2,995 more than the standard criminal justice grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice & corrections from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania

6
84 Annual Graduates
$37,311 Median Starting Salary
$34,746 Median Student Debt

Located in the fringe town of Kutztown, Kutztown University is a public university with a medium-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the criminal justice program state that they receive average early career earnings of $37,311.

More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice & corrections from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

7
30 Annual Graduates
$38,557 Median Starting Salary
$29,422 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Erie, Mercyhurst is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the criminal justice program report average early career income of $38,557.

More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice & corrections from Mercyhurst University

8
DeSales crest
DeSales University
Center Valley, PA

Located in the suburb of Center Valley, DeSales is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Those criminal justice & corrections students who get their bachelor's degree from DeSales University make $7,357 more than the standard criminal justice graduate.

More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice & corrections from DeSales University

9
Widener crest
Widener University
Chester, PA
17 Annual Graduates
$31,663 Median Starting Salary
$52,557 Median Student Debt

Located in the suburb of Chester, Widener is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

After graduation, criminal justice bachelor's recipients generally make about $31,663 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice & corrections from Widener University

10
30 Annual Graduates
$42,175 Median Starting Salary
$24,845 Median Student Debt

Located in the medium-sized suburb of York, YCP is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Criminal Justice & Corrections bachelor's degree recipients from York College of Pennsylvania receive an earnings boost of around $4,027 over the typical earnings of criminal justice & corrections graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in criminal justice & corrections from York College of Pennsylvania

Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
New York 275 3,973
Maryland 207 731
New Jersey 193 1,695
Delaware 130 117
District of Columbia 126 293

View All Rankings >

One of 4 majors within the Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting area of study, Criminal Justice & Corrections has other similar majors worth exploring.

Criminal Justice Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Criminal Justice Studies 1,236
Criminal Justice 654
Corrections 36
Criminal Justice & Police Science 29
Criminal Justice and Corrections, General 17
Securities Services Administration/Management 15
Other Corrections & Criminal Justice 12

Majors Similar to Criminal Justice

Related Major Annual Graduates
Security Science and Technology 252
Homeland Security 54
Other Homeland Security 35

Notes and References

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