Criminology is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #80 most popular degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 4 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Criminology Schools in Iowa ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 190 degrees in criminology annually.
Your choice of criminology school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Criminology School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
The criminology 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 Criminology Schools in Iowa.
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.
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the criminology degree levels they offer.
Every student who is interested in criminology needs to check out University of Iowa. Iowa is a fairly large public university located in the city of Iowa City. A Best Colleges rank of #80 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Iowa is a great university overall.
There were approximately 86 criminology students who graduated with this degree at Iowa in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the criminology program state that they receive average early career earnings of $38,520.
It is hard to beat University of Northern Iowa if you want to pursue a degree in criminology. Located in the city of Cedar Falls, UNI is a public university with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #270 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UNI is a great university overall.
There were roughly 37 criminology students who graduated with this degree at UNI in the most recent year we have data available. Criminology degree recipients from University of Northern Iowa get an earnings boost of around $4,876 over the average earnings of criminology majors.
Upper Iowa University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in criminology. Located in the rural area of Fayette, UIU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 28th out of 37 schools for overall quality in the state of Iowa.
There were approximately 52 criminology students who graduated with this degree at UIU in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the criminology degree program at Upper Iowa University earn $4,132 above the standard college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Every student pursuing a degree in criminology has to check out William Penn University. William Penn University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the town of Oskaloosa. This university ranks 36th out of 37 schools for overall quality in the state of Iowa.
There were about 9 criminology students who graduated with this degree at William Penn University in the most recent year we have data available.
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).
Your choice of criminology school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Criminology School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
