Best Online Master’s in Criminal Justice

Published: Jun 22, 2021
Updated: Nov 22, 2023

Find top-ranked online master’s in criminal justice degree programs to help students strengthen leadership skills within the context of criminal justice, law enforcement, and national security.

Top 10 Online Master's in Criminal Justice

Florida State University
University of Southern California
Sam Houston State University
University of Cincinnati
University of New Haven
University of Arizona
Boston University
University of Mississippi
Texas A&M University
University of Central Florida

University of Southern California
Boston University
University of Arizona
University of California, Irvine
Florida State University
Wayne State University
University of Cincinnati
Texas A&M University
University of Louisville
University of Mississippi

University of Mississippi 97%
Marshall University 97%
Wichita State University 95%
University of Texas at Tyler 94%
University of New Haven 91%
Roger Williams University 91%
University of Arizona 87%
Charleston Southern University 87%
University of Nebraska Omaha 86%
University of Cincinnati 86%

University of Central Florida 29 to 1
Florida International University 24 to 1
University of North Texas 23 to 1
Wichita State University 20 to 1
Sam Houston State University 20 to 1
University of New Haven 19 to 1
Texas A&M University 18 to 1
University of Cincinnati 18 to 1
University of California, Irvine 18 to 1
Florida State University 17 to 1

University of Southern California $64,726
Boston University $62,360
Texas Christian University $53,980
University of New Haven $44,184
Roger Williams University $40,962
Nova Southeastern University $36,300
Charleston Southern University $29,990
University of Massachusetts Lowell $15,462
Wayne State University $14,140
University of Louisville $12,324

University of Southern California $63,468
Boston University $61,050
Texas Christian University $33,660
Nova Southeastern University $22,062
Roger Williams University $18,565
University of New Haven $18,360
Wayne State University $17,682
University of Massachusetts Lowell $14,956
University of Louisville $13,944
University of Cincinnati $13,224

Texas Christian University
Nova Southeastern University
Wichita State University
University of Texas at Tyler
University of Louisville
University of Nebraska Omaha
Charleston Southern University
Roger Williams University
Wayne State University
University of Massachusetts Lowell

Charleston Southern University
University of Texas at Tyler
Roger Williams University
University of New Haven
University of Nebraska Omaha
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Nova Southeastern University
Sam Houston State University
Wichita State University
Marshall University

University of Southern California 12%
Boston University 14%
University of California, Irvine 21%
Florida State University 25%
University of Central Florida 41%
Texas Christian University 56%
Texas A&M University 63%
Florida International University 64%
Wayne State University 75%
Nova Southeastern University 76%

University of Southern California 9 to 1
University of Alaska Fairbanks 11 to 1
Boston University 11 to 1
Charleston Southern University 12 to 1
University of Louisville 13 to 1
Texas Christian University 14 to 1
Wayne State University 14 to 1
Roger Williams University 14 to 1
University of Texas at Tyler 15 to 1
University of Nebraska Omaha 15 to 1

University of Central Florida $4,478
Florida State University $4,640
Florida International University $4,721
Sam Houston State University $5,856
University of Nebraska Omaha $6,344
Wichita State University $6,848
University of Texas at Tyler $7,020
Marshall University $7,190
University of Alaska Fairbanks $7,659
University of North Texas $8,295

Charleston Southern University $5,085
Wichita State University $5,544
Sam Houston State University $5,765
University of Nebraska Omaha $6,138
University of Texas at Tyler $6,264
University of North Texas $6,350
Texas A&M University $6,885
University of Central Florida $6,916
Marshall University $7,520
University of Mississippi $9,072

Featured Programs

Frequently Asked Questions About Criminal Justice Degrees

Why get a master’s in criminal justice?

A master’s in criminal justice helps to strengthen leadership skills within the context of criminal justice, law enforcement, and national security.

What can I specialize in?

Students will have the opportunity to focus on a range of specialized topics including criminal psychology, legislative policy, and administration practices in law enforcement.

How long does it take to get a master’s in criminal justice?

Students can pursue this degree either online or on-campus, and most programs require the completion of between 30 and 36 credits. This typically takes two to three years to complete.

What can I do with a master’s in criminal justice?

Graduates can go on to hold supervisory positions in law enforcement, work in the field of forensic science, or act as district attorneys. The master’s degree in criminal justice may also be a basic threshold for many leadership roles in national intelligence, security and cybersecurity.

Learn more about what you can do with a master’s in criminal justice.

How do we determine the best online criminal justice master's degree programs?

Methodology

Pursuing your degree online doesn’t mean you need to settle for an inferior school. Today, most universities and colleges offer online degrees, and many respected schools are seeing significant growth in their numbers of online students.

The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why influence — i.e., the academic impact of faculty and alumni associated with a school — gets at the heart of what is truly best in education. The combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers is the best indicator of academic excellence. For our online degree rankings, we focus on the academic influence of faculty and alumni in the specific disciplines we’re ranking.

If you are serious about finding the best online colleges, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching, and whether their graduates themselves are advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence. Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Influence, as measured by our InfluenceRanking engine, provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.

25 Best Online Master’s in Criminal Justice Degree Programs

Career Outlook for Students with Criminal Justice Degree

Go to Degree Finder tool

Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration

Degree Level: Master's

Location: The U.S. (Private Schools)
Avg. Cost of Degree*: $10,814
Avg. Expenses*: $16,395
Avg. Starting Salary*: $48,906
Avg. Salary after 4 Years*: $56,089
Avg. Cost Recoup Time**: 6 years
Job Growth: 3.31%
Number of Jobs: 1,382,700
* denotes ‘annually’
** denotes ‘at 15% of annual salary’

Career Salaries

Career	Job Growth	Avg. Salary
Managers, All Other	3.35%	$106,040
First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	3.12%	$84,600
Transit and Railroad Police	2.94%	$75,399
Detectives and Criminal Investigators	1.49%	$73,715
Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary	2.43%	$70,208
First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers	-2.74%	$63,348
Forensic Science Technicians	12.43%	$61,676
Police and Sheriff’s Patrol Officers	3.29%	$60,664
Private Detectives and Investigators	6.01%	$54,928
First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers	-3.86%	$52,264

Average Career Salaries

Bottom 10%	Median	Top 10%
$46,885	$68,700	$102,208

Promising Job Markets

State	Cost of Living	Avg. Salary
#2 California	26% higher than average	$108,645
#3 Illinois	7% higher than average	$78,640
#4 New York	5% higher than average	$84,489
#5 Ohio	14% higher than average	$67,925
#6 Michigan	15% higher than average	$66,857
#7 Wisconsin	7% higher than average	$73,181
#8 Colorado	3% higher than average	$80,316
#9 Minnesota	4% higher than average	$73,386
#10 Virginia	5% higher than average	$72,717
#11 New Jersey	13% higher than average	$86,421
#12 Pennsylvania	5% higher than average	$72,052
#13 Washington	7% higher than average	$80,382
#14 Texas	10% higher than average	$66,933
#15 Iowa	9% higher than average	$67,661
#16 Delaware	2% higher than average	$75,718
#17 Alaska	23% higher than average	$89,842
#18 Missouri	16% higher than average	$60,444
#19 Utah	4% higher than average	$68,839
#20 Arizona	5% higher than average	$67,993
#21 Nebraska	6% higher than average	$66,308
#22 Nevada	5% higher than average	$73,013
#23 Oregon	11% higher than average	$76,510
#24 Oklahoma	13% higher than average	$59,386
#25 North Dakota	average	$68,570
#26 North Carolina	11% higher than average	$60,069
#27 Alabama	13% higher than average	$58,080
#28 New Mexico	7% higher than average	$61,803
#29 Montana	3% higher than average	$63,957
#30 Massachusetts	24% higher than average	$81,427
#31 West Virginia	11% higher than average	$58,368
#32 Rhode Island	20% higher than average	$78,352
#33 Georgia	13% higher than average	$56,830
#34 South Dakota	7% higher than average	$60,511
#35 Connecticut	18% higher than average	$77,176
#36 Florida	6% higher than average	$61,547
#37 Idaho	7% higher than average	$60,296
#38 Wyoming	2% higher than average	$63,249
#39 Maryland	18% higher than average	$75,361
#40 Kentucky	14% higher than average	$54,671
#41 New Hampshire	13% higher than average	$71,619
#42 Louisiana	9% higher than average	$57,473
#43 Kansas	9% higher than average	$57,956
#44 South Carolina	8% higher than average	$57,871
#45 Vermont	13% higher than average	$70,984
#46 Tennessee	14% higher than average	$53,826
#47 Arkansas	16% higher than average	$52,113
#48 Indiana	11% higher than average	$54,940
#49 District of Columbia	49% higher than average	$90,263
#50 Mississippi	18% higher than average	$48,269
#51 Maine	9% higher than average	$62,408
#52 Hawaii	40% higher than average	$79,040

Top Industries

Industry	Avg. Salary
Managers, All Other	$106,040
First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	$84,600
Transit and Railroad Police	$75,399
Detectives and Criminal Investigators	$73,715
Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary	$70,208
First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers	$63,348
Forensic Science Technicians	$61,676
Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers	$60,664
Private Detectives and Investigators	$54,928
First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers	$52,264

Data from The Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Department of Education College Scorecard, The Department of Education NCES, and The Council for Community and Economic Research.

Online Degree Frequently Asked Questions

If this is your first time taking an online course, the experience may require some adjustment. While you’ll generally learn the same content and take the same exams as your on-campus peers, the medium will likely require you to manage much of this experience independently. You’ll be accountable for your own time management, your ability to harness the technology at your fingertips, and your ability to focus on the lectures, lessons, and assignments at hand. This means you’ll need to create a suitable workspace for yourself, maintain a realistic schedule, and take it upon yourself to build relationships with your instructors and classmates. With online college, your goal is to find a balance between independence and engagement.

No. The only part of online education that’s easier is actually getting there. Taking the commute out of the equation means getting to class should be a lot more manageable. But that’s where it ends. In general, your online courses will incorporate the very same materials, concepts, and testing methods as would a traditional classroom.

And in many cases, you’ll even have the same instructors as your on-campus counterparts. In fact, if you are adjusting to the experience of independent learning or working with remote learning technology for the first time, online college may even be a little more challenging for you. For a few insights on how to manage this new experience, check out our 10 Tips for Adjusting to School Online.

Accreditation is especially important when it comes to online college. This is because the online education landscape is a mix of highly-reputable institutions and less-than-reputable for-profit schools. Accreditation gives you the power to differentiate between the two. Accreditation is a stamp of approval from an independent accrediting agency which indicates that a college or university is meeting standards of quality, credibility, and currency. School-wide accreditation falls into two major categories: regional and national accreditation. Regional accreditors generally hold jurisdiction only over schools in the states comprising their region, whereas national accreditors hold jurisdiction over schools in all states. Regional accreditation is widely regarded as a more rigorous standard of quality and credibility than national accreditation.

Attending a college or university which is not regionally accredited could limit your opportunities. When seeking an online education, we strongly recommend that students opt for regionally accredited schools. Regional accreditation ensures eligibility for federal loans and grants, ensures your college credits can be transferred between schools, and ensures that your degree credits can be accepted if you wish to earn an advanced degree.

As long as your online college degree is regionally accredited, you should have little difficulty transferring most of your credits or credentials to another regionally accredited undergraduate school. Every school carries its own standards and procedures for granting a transfer. In many cases, you will be required to navigate a bureaucracy in which some of your credits will be transferred and others will be jettisoned. However, provided that you have attended an online school with the proper regional accreditation, you should have plenty of options for transfer.

In most cases, as long you graduate from a well-regarded, regionally-accredited online college, prospective employers won’t look sideways at your degree. In fact, unless you attend an exclusively online college or university, there will likely be no specific indicator on your degree, transcript or resume differentiating your school from its brick-and-mortar counterpart. This means that your employer will likely only differentiate between an online and in-person degree if you mention this distinction.

While some employers may express concern about making the adjustment from online education to in-person workplace collaboration, many other employers will view your online degree as evidence of valuable 21st Century professional skills such as independence, self-motivation, time management, and tech savvy.

If you are a student who thrives on the dynamic energy of in-person discussion, who requires the physical surroundings of a classroom to feel engaged, or who considers the social aspects of education to be of equal importance to the actual content of your courses, online education will require some adjustment.

While there is much that can be supplanted or simulated through the online medium, some students may find that there is nothing which can replace the conversation, collaboration, and motivation that occur in an actual classroom setting. As you make the adjustment to online education, one of the biggest challenges you will likely face is overcoming this difference in order to the get the most out of your classes. Fortunately, we’ve got some great Tips for Online Education Beginners.

The advantages of online classes are many. First and foremost, online courses give you the freedom and flexibility to attend class from anywhere that works for you, whether you’re at home, in a coffee shop, or in a quiet conference room at work. In many cases, you’ll also enjoy the convenience of asynchronous learning opportunities-educational experiences that you can complete on your own schedule. This may include pre-taped lectures, ongoing chat-board discussions, and 24/7 access to digital materials. And of course, just as there are some learners who prefer the energy of a live classroom, there are those who learn best when working in their own personal space, free from distractions. If this sounds like you, you might find the solitude of online learning to be a major advantage.

Whether you’re just getting started on your college search, you’re looking for survival tips on your way to a bachelor’s degree, or you’re preparing for the transition into grad school, we’ve got guides, how to’s and tons of other valuable resources to keep you moving forward in your educational journey.

Do you have a question about this topic? Ask it here

Best Online Master’s in Criminal Justice

Top 10 Online Master's in Criminal Justice

Featured Programs

Frequently Asked Questions About Criminal Justice Degrees

Why get a master’s in criminal justice?

What can I specialize in?

How long does it take to get a master’s in criminal justice?

What can I do with a master’s in criminal justice?

25 Best Online Master’s in Criminal Justice Degree Programs

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at Florida State University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at University of Southern California

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at Sam Houston State University

Online Degrees

Concentrations

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at University of Cincinnati

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at University of New Haven

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at University of Arizona

Online Degrees

Concentrations

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at Boston University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at University of Mississippi

Online Degrees

Concentrations

Concentrations

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at Texas A&M University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at University of Central Florida

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at University of California, Irvine

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at University of Alaska Fairbanks

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at Marshall University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at Florida International University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at University of North Texas

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at University of Massachusetts Lowell

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at Wayne State University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at Roger Williams University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at Charleston Southern University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at University of Nebraska Omaha

Online Degrees

Concentrations

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at University of Louisville

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at University of Texas at Tyler

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at Wichita State University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at Nova Southeastern University

Online Degrees

Concentrations

Concentrations

Career Outlook for Criminal Justice degree at Texas Christian University

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Students with Criminal Justice Degree

Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration

Degree Level: Master's

Career Salaries

Average Career Salaries

Promising Job Markets

Top Industries

Online Degree Frequently Asked Questions

What can I expect from an online college course?+

Is online college easier?+

Why does accreditation matter in online college?+

Will I be able to transfer my online college degree?+

Will employers respect my online degree?+

What are the disadvantages of online classes?+