2025 Best Criminology Bachelor's Degree Schools in California
a bachelor's degree in
criminology is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #53 out of 363 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 8 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Criminology Bachelor's Degree Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,310 bachelor's degrees in criminology during the 2022-2023 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Criminology School for Your Bachelor's Degree
Your choice of criminology for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. 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 good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we include 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.
- Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to criminology students as compared to other majors.
- Major Demand - How many other criminology students want to attend this school to pursue a bachelor's degree.
- Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
- Student Debt - How much debt criminology students go into to obtain their bachelor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized criminology related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for criminology students working on their bachelor's degree.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Criminology Bachelor's Degree Schools in California 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 Criminology in California
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in criminology.
Top California Schools for a Bachelor's in Criminology
University of California - Irvine is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in criminology. Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a very large student population.
After graduation, criminology bachelor's recipients typically earn about $34,522 in their early careers.
More information about a bachelor’s in criminology from University of California - Irvine
Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in criminology has to look into California State University - San Marcos. Located in the suburb of San Marcos, CSUSM is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the criminology program report average early career earnings of $34,694.
More information about a bachelor’s in criminology from California State University - San Marcos
Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in criminology has to check out California State University - Fresno. Located in the large city of Fresno, Fresno State is a public university with a fairly large student population.
After graduating, criminology bachelor's recipients generally make around $31,224 in their early careers.
More information about a bachelor’s in criminology from California State University - Fresno
California Lutheran University is a wonderful choice for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in criminology. CLU is a small private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Thousand Oaks.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the criminology program report average early career income of $31,963.
More information about a bachelor’s in criminology from California Lutheran University
Located in the large suburb of Pomona, Cal Poly Pomona is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in criminology from California State Polytechnic University - Pomona