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2025 Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools in New Jersey

33 Colleges in New Jersey
2,954 Criminal Justice Degrees Awarded
$40,755 Avg 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 33 schools in New Jersey to determine which ones were the best for criminal justice & corrections students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,954 degrees in criminal justice & corrections annually.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Criminal Justice & Corrections School

Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools in New Jersey 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

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

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 Schools in New Jersey list, to help you choose the best school for you. 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.

More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.

Best Schools for Criminal Justice & Corrections in New Jersey

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.

10 Top New Jersey Schools in Criminal Justice

1
Rowan crest
Rowan University
Glassboro, NJ
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
274 Criminal Justice Degrees Awarded
$33,254 Median Starting Salary

Rowan University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in criminal justice & corrections. Rowan is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Glassboro. A Best Colleges rank of #345 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Rowan is a great university overall.

There were about 274 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at Rowan in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the criminal justice program earn about $33,254 for their early career.

More information about a degree in criminal justice & corrections from Rowan University

2
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
194 Criminal Justice Degrees Awarded
$35,563 Median Starting Salary

Rutgers University - New Brunswick is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the city of New Brunswick, Rutgers New Brunswick is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #74 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Rutgers New Brunswick is a great university overall.

There were roughly 194 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at Rutgers New Brunswick in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the criminal justice program report average early career wages of $35,563.

More information about a degree in criminal justice & corrections from Rutgers University - New Brunswick

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
212 Criminal Justice Degrees Awarded
$35,563 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in criminal justice & corrections needs to look into Rutgers University - Newark. Rutgers Newark is a fairly large public university located in the city of Newark. A Best Colleges rank of #164 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Rutgers Newark is a great university overall.

There were roughly 212 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at Rutgers Newark in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the criminal justice program report average early career wages of $35,563.

More information about a degree in criminal justice & corrections from Rutgers University - Newark

4
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
74 Criminal Justice Degrees Awarded
$35,563 Median Starting Salary

Rutgers University - Camden is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the small city of Camden, Rutgers Camden is a public university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #248 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Rutgers Camden is a great university overall.

There were roughly 74 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at Rutgers Camden in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the criminal justice program state that they receive average early career earnings of $35,563.

More information about a degree in criminal justice & corrections from Rutgers University - Camden

5
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
59 Criminal Justice Degrees Awarded
5.1% Growth in Graduates

TCNJ is a medium-sized public college located in the large suburb of Ewing. A Best Colleges rank of #200 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means TCNJ is a great college overall.

There were roughly 59 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at TCNJ in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the criminal justice program make about $36,070 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a degree in criminal justice & corrections from The College of New Jersey

6
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
71 Criminal Justice Degrees Awarded
$32,712 Median Starting Salary

Middlesex County College is a large public college located in the suburb of Edison. A Best Colleges rank of #771 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Middlesex County College is a great college overall.

There were approximately 71 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at Middlesex County College 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 $32,712.

More information about a degree in criminal justice & corrections from Middlesex County College

7
Kean crest
Kean University
Union, NJ
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
160 Criminal Justice Degrees Awarded
$39,408 Median Starting Salary

Kean is a large public university located in the suburb of Union. A Best Colleges rank of #594 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Kean is a great university overall.

There were roughly 160 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at Kean in the most recent data year. After graduation, criminal justice degree recipients typically make around $39,408 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in criminal justice & corrections from Kean University

8
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
124 Criminal Justice Degrees Awarded
$35,864 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Wayne, William Paterson University is a public university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #341 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means William Paterson University is a great university overall.

There were roughly 124 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at William Paterson University in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the criminal justice program state that they receive average early career earnings of $35,864.

More information about a degree in criminal justice & corrections from William Paterson University of New Jersey

9
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
15th Most Popular In NJ
55 Criminal Justice Degrees Awarded

RVCC is a moderately-sized public college located in the rural area of Branchburg. This college ranks 27th out of 45 colleges for overall quality in the state of New Jersey.

There were about 55 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at RVCC in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in criminal justice & corrections from Raritan Valley Community College

10
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
61 Criminal Justice Degrees Awarded
$31,908 Median Starting Salary

Essex is a medium-sized public college located in the city of Newark. A Best Colleges rank of #375 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Essex is a great college overall.

There were roughly 61 criminal justice & corrections students who graduated with this degree at Essex in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, criminal justice degree recipients generally earn about $31,908 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in criminal justice & corrections from Essex County College

Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Pennsylvania 334 3,222
New York 333 8,021
Maryland 279 944
District of Columbia 188 335
Delaware 175 280

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 & Police Science 1,180
Criminal Justice Studies 1,043
Criminal Justice 549
Other Corrections & Criminal Justice 127
Corrections 52
Security & Loss Prevention Services 3

View All Criminal Justice Concentrations >

Majors Similar to Criminal Justice

Related Major Annual Graduates
Homeland Security 265
Fire Protection 52
Other Homeland Security 43
Security Science and Technology 37

View All Criminal Justice Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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