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Best Universities offering graduate programs in Criminal Justice

Criminal justice refers to the laws, procedures, institutions, and policies in place before, during, and after a crime has been committed. Criminal justice and corrections research includes criminology research methodologies, criminological theory, and the psychology of criminal conduct. There is no single criminal justice system in the United States. Rather, there are numerous distinct systems that work together.

There are 24 schools offering graduate degrees in Criminal Justice. Texas Christian University had 0 international graduate students in its 24 program, which is one of the highest counts in the country. Texas Christian University had the most women graduates in this program.

Harvard University logo
Ranked as:  #2 in Best National University
Tuition:  $50,654 per year
Total Cost:  $101,308 * This tuition data is based on IPEDS. For the latest tuition amount, refer to the respective college websites.
State:  Massachusetts
Acceptance:  5.01%

The Criminal Justice Institute is the curriculum-based criminal law clinical program of Harvard Law School. The mission of the Criminal Justice Institute is to educate Harvard Law School students in becoming effective, ethical and zealous criminal defense lawyer-advocates through practice in representing indigent individuals involved in the Massachusetts court system as well as to research and present issues and debates about the criminal and juvenile justice systems in order to affect local and national reform.

Harvard Law School is committed to the full inclusion of students with disabilities in the life of the University. Students requesting accessibility resources or accommodations in any of HLS’s Clinical and Pro Bono Programs may work with Accessibility Services in the Dean of Students Office

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Harvard Law School Criminal Justice Institute

Harvard University admission requirements for graduate programs in Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting
  • GRE Required:  Yes
  • Research assistantships:  864
  • Teaching assistantships:  1388
  • Financial Aid: Register to view the details
Yale University logo
Ranked as:  #3 in Best National University
Tuition:  $44,500 per year
Total Cost:  $89,000 * This tuition data is based on IPEDS. For the latest tuition amount, refer to the respective college websites.
State:  Connecticut
Acceptance:  6.53%

Yale Law School offers a rich academic experience studying criminal law through many different lenses. In addition to a variety of courses, students can collaborate with faculty on empirical research, work on reform efforts, and gain hands-on experience through work with clinics and student organizations.

Two vibrant centers at the Law School create a myriad of ways for students to get involved in criminal justice reform work that is having a profound impact across the country.

Several clinics and student organizations play an important role in introducing students to the state and federal criminal justice systems and affording the students an opportunity to represent individual clients and pursue systemic reforms.

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Criminal Justice - Yale Law School

Yale University admission requirements for graduate programs in Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting
  • GRE Required:  Yes
  • Research assistantships:  1565
  • Teaching assistantships:  1598
  • Financial Aid: Register to view the details
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Ranked as:  #14 in Best National University
Tuition:  $56,562 per year
Total Cost:  $113,124 * This tuition data is based on IPEDS. For the latest tuition amount, refer to the respective college websites.
State:  Missouri
Acceptance:  16.02%

The Law School has compiled the following list of upper-level courses currently or recently offered to guide students interested in criminal justice. Related clinics and/or externships are marked with an asterisk and grouped separately at the end of the list. The Law School offers the listed courses regularly, but some are not available every year.

The Law School offers the following clinics and externships related to criminal justice: the Criminal Justice Clinic, the Prosecution Clinic, the Post-Conviction Relief Clinical Practicum, and the International Justice & Conflict Resolution Externship.

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Criminal Justice - WashULaw

  • GRE Required:  Yes
  • Research assistantships:  912
  • Teaching assistantships:  474
  • Financial Aid: Register to view the details
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708 universities offer the Master's program in Criminal Justice. Which one best suits your need? We will help make you a decision.

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Vanderbilt University logo
Ranked as:  #16 in Best National University
Tuition:  $50,624 per year
Total Cost:  $101,248 * This tuition data is based on IPEDS. For the latest tuition amount, refer to the respective college websites.
State:  Tennessee
Acceptance:  11.62%

Vanderbilt Law School's Criminal Justice Program offers an array of courses, seminars, and clinics for students interested in criminal law and procedure. In addition to the first-year criminal law course, Vanderbilt's large criminal law faculty and adjunct faculty teaches over twenty courses in the second and third years that focus on criminal theory and practice, criminal procedure, juvenile justice, international criminal law, mental health law, and various other areas connected to criminal law. The program also features academic roundtables and symposia aimed at exploring current legal scholarship on criminal justice issues.

All students are required to take Criminal Law during their first year. Students who are interested in practicing criminal law should consider pursuing a criminal justice course concentration, which should include: Constitutional Law II; Evidence; Criminal Procedure: Investigation; Criminal Procedure: Adjudication; an experiential/skills course that has a criminal justice orientation; and at least three other courses from the list below. Students should also consider short course offerings that vary from year to year (recent one-credit courses included Policing in the Twenty-First Century and Defending a Criminal Case).

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Criminal Justice Program

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University of California-Berkeley logo
Ranked as:  #20 in Best National University
Tuition:  $29,347 per year
Total Cost:  $58,694 * This tuition data is based on IPEDS. For the latest tuition amount, refer to the respective college websites.
State:  California
Acceptance:  17.48%

Berkeley Law is an ideal place to study criminal justice. The faculty includes top criminologists, renowned experts in domestic and international law, first-rate practitioners, and scholars who bring an interdisciplinary approach to the most pressing problems of the day. Students gain important practical experience through our Death Penalty Clinic, East Bay Community Law Center, Policy Advocacy Clinic, Samuelson Law and Technology Clinic, and Domestic Violence Practicum, as well as the Field Placements, Student-Initiated Legal Services Projects, and a host of advocacy classes.

Berkeley Law takes full advantage of the rich opportunities in the Bay Area. The nine-county region offers countless possibilities for prosecution and defense field placements and careers in local, state, and federal agencies, as well as policy work for non-profit organizations.

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Criminal Justice - Berkeley Law

  • GRE Required:  Register to view the details
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Georgetown University logo
Ranked as:  #21 in Best National University
Tuition:  $53,591 per year
Total Cost:  $107,182 * This tuition data is based on IPEDS. For the latest tuition amount, refer to the respective college websites.
State:  -
Acceptance:  16.81%

Georgetown Law students graduate with a strong background in all aspects of the American criminal justice system, whether they want to pursue a career in criminal law or apply their knowledge to other legal fields. For J.D. students, the first-year curriculum includes courses in criminal procedure and criminal law. Students planning a career in the field can then concentrate on specialized courses covering topics such as federal white-collar crime and international criminal law, as well as seminars in areas such as capital punishment, computer crime and race, gender and criminal law. The students publish renowned journals including the American Criminal Law Review, the nation’s premier journal of criminal law, and Georgetown Law Journal’s Annual Review of Criminal Procedure, the “must-have” reference guide for criminal law practitioners.

Georgetown Law’s faculty scholars are also at the forefront of contemporary issues in criminal law, such as race and criminal justice, drug policy, crime in the digital age, the prosecutions of corporations, the special challenges of the juvenile justice system and prisons. The faculty’s research is regularly published in leading scholarly journals, and news organizations of

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Criminal Law - Georgetown Law

Georgetown University admission requirements for graduate programs in Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting
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University of California-Los Angeles logo
Ranked as:  #23 in Best National University
Tuition:  $28,131 per year
Total Cost:  $56,262 * This tuition data is based on IPEDS. For the latest tuition amount, refer to the respective college websites.
State:  California
Acceptance:  14.33%

The Transnational Program on Criminal Justice fosters research and discussion on domestic, comparative, international and transnational criminal justice systems. The Transnational Program on Criminal Justice produces timely, collaborative research to improve the understanding on diverse topics at the intersection of criminal justice, comparative and international law, and human rights law.

Two of the goals of TPCJ are supporting cutting-edge and important legal research by practitioners and scholars and to create bridges between legal practice and legal research in the United States and other countries. As a way to advance these goals, the TPCJ has welcomed practitioners and scholars at different stages in their careers from around the world.

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Transnational Program on Criminal Justice at UCLA Law

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University of Michigan-Ann Arbor logo
Ranked as:  #29 in Best National University
Tuition:  $49,548 per year
Total Cost:  $99,096 * This tuition data is based on IPEDS. For the latest tuition amount, refer to the respective college websites.
State:  Michigan
Acceptance:  26.11%

Michigan graduate degree from University of Michigan-Dearborn in the rapidly growing criminal justice profession. This flexible degree program is 30-32 credits and provides a thesis and non-thesis option, while offering traditional, evening and online courses. ublic safety professionals from partnering organizations may qualify for a scholarship valued at 20 percent of tuition and fees through the Community Service Personnel Scholarship program.

Faculty, who are experts in their field, developed the Master of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice to prepare students for research, management and policy positions or continuation into a Ph.D. program.

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Master of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice

GRE score required at University of Michigan-Ann Arbor master's degree programs in Criminal Justice, Safety Studies
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New York University logo
Ranked as:  #32 in Best National University
Tuition:  $36,892 per year
Total Cost:  $73,784 * This tuition data is based on IPEDS. For the latest tuition amount, refer to the respective college websites.
State:  New York
Acceptance:  21.09%

Criminal law at NYU is a rich discipline that begins with the first-year course in Criminal Law, which covers general principles of criminal responsibility. Second-year students can take courses in evidence or criminal procedure. Most law schools have only one course in criminal procedure—at NYU, students can choose from four. Upper-level courses in substantive and procedural criminal law include Business Crime, Federal Criminal Law, and Juvenile Justice.

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Criminal Justice - NYU School of Law

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Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus logo
Ranked as:  #35 in Best National University
Tuition:  $31,334 per year
Total Cost:  $62,668 * This tuition data is based on IPEDS. For the latest tuition amount, refer to the respective college websites.
State:  Georgia
Acceptance:  21.34%

Crime and criminal justice are at the forefront of national policy and practice. The increasing emphasis on professional preparation in criminal justice careers places additional academic demands on the in-service professional. To meet this need, Georgia State’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology offers a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science degree in criminal justice, as well as a Doctor of Philosophy degree in criminal justice and criminology.

Career opportunities for graduates of the master’s program in criminal justice are numerous, diverse and rewarding. Georgia State graduates have found employment at the following: FBI, ATF, GBI, EPA, Secret Service, numerous local and state law enforcement and correctional agencies, probation and parole agencies, juvenile justice agencies and the research branches of federal, state and local agencies.

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Criminal Justice, M.S.

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Find scholarships and financial aid for Criminal Justice graduate programs

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How much does it cost to get an Master's in Criminal Justice and how to find Most affordable Masters program?

Master's degree in Criminal Justice is offered by 477 US universities. The tuition for the Master's degree can range from $17,916 per year at Roger Williams University to $32,268 at Texas Christian University.

The tuition at public universities will be lower for in-state students when compared to private universities but you get more financial aid at private universities.

How can CollegeHippo help me find the accredited, most affordable Graduate programs in Criminal Justice?

There are 477 universities that offer Master’s degrees in Criminal Justice. It can be an on-campus, hybrid or online. CollegeHippo’s team collected data from all the trusted sources like IPEDS, colleges website, bls.gov for job and salary information.We have verified and added 700+ Masters’ scholarships which you can avail of with an amount ranging from $1000 - $22,000. We are the only website that has the Graduate programs data from all the US universities and we do not want to sway your opinion through sponsored listing. If there is no data for a college, then it is not an act of omission on purpose. If you let us know, we will be more than happy to fix the mistake.

We have waged a war against the insane high tuition cost.

Our promise is that we will help you find the accredited colleges at an affordable price tag. Use our Graduate School Finder to find the college that fits your needs and is affordable.

Most affordable Master's program in Criminal Justice

Are there colleges for the Criminal Justice Masters program that do not require GRE/GMAT?

Quite a few accredited universities have waived off the GRE score requirements for admissions to Masters programs. 736 offer Graduate programs in Criminal Justice. Below are listed 10 universities that do not require GRE/GMAT for admission to Master's program. For viewing the all the schools that have waived off GRE/GMAT for the admission, use Match Me Masters.

No GRE schools for Masters in Criminal Justice

What is the GRE score required for admission to Master's degree in Criminal Justice?

Gre score requirements differ from school to school. Most colleges do not publish the cutoff scores. For example 735 universities offer Master's programs in Criminal Justice.

Gre score requirements for Master's program in Criminal Justice

Is it worth getting a master's degree in Criminal Justice?

Before you invest 2-3 years of your life and anywhere between $40,000 - $110,00 of your hard earned money, students do ask as to what is the return on investment on the Master's degree. Here are some of the statistics from bls.gov.

Career Outlook

Overall employment of postsecondary teachers is projected to grow 12 percent from 2020 to 2030, faster than the average for all occupations. About 139,600 openings for postsecondary teachers are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.

The median annual wage for postsecondary teachers was $80,560 in May 2020. Number of Jobs in 2020 was 1,276,900.

Career Opportunities with master's degree in Criminal Justice


Job Title 2020 median Pay Number of Jobs Job Outlook What they do
Financial Examiners $81,430 70,800 Employment of financial examiners is projected to grow 18 percent from 2020 to 2030, much faster than the average for all occupations. About 6,900 openings for financial examiners are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire. Financial examiners ensure compliance with laws that govern institutions handling monetary transactions.
Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary $80,560 1,276,900 Overall employment of postsecondary teachers is projected to grow 12 percent from 2020 to 2030, faster than the average for all occupations. About 139,600 openings for postsecondary teachers are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire. Postsecondary teachers instruct students in a variety of academic subjects beyond the high school level.
Emergency Management Directors $76,250 10,500 Employment of emergency management directors is projected to grow 6 percent from 2020 to 2030, about as fast as the average for all occupations. About 1,000 openings for emergency management directors are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire. Emergency management directors prepare plans and procedures for responding to natural disasters or other emergencies. They also help lead the response during and after emergencies.
Transit and Railroad Police $67,290 795,000 Overall employment of police and detectives is projected to grow 7 percent from 2020 to 2030, about as fast as the average for all occupations. About 67,100 openings for police and detectives are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire. Police officers protect lives and property. Detectives and criminal investigators gather facts and collect evidence of possible crimes.
Detectives and Criminal Investigators $67,290 795,000 Overall employment of police and detectives is projected to grow 7 percent from 2020 to 2030, about as fast as the average for all occupations. About 67,100 openings for police and detectives are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire. Police officers protect lives and property. Detectives and criminal investigators gather facts and collect evidence of possible crimes.

Are there universities offering online Master's in Criminal Justice?

105 universities offer graduate masters online program in Criminal Justice

Check out these universities offering on-campus and hybrid master's program program

Online Master's in Criminal Justice

How can I compare the Criminal Justice Graduate Programs?

Compare the GRE score requirements, admission details, credit requirements and tuition for the Master's Program, from 708 universities offering Graduate School Programs in Criminal Justice. Compare Graduate School Programs in Criminal Justice

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