by our College Data Analytics Team
[Criminal Justice](/majors/protective-security-safety-services/criminal-justice-and-corrections/criminal-justice/) programs reward a close look at where your money goes furthest. The schools below stand out for delivering a strong criminal justice education at a price that pays off.
To produce this 2026 ranking, College Factual evaluated 2 schools on the balance of cost and outcomes for criminal justice students.
What’s on this page:
Below are the schools that deliver the strongest value in criminal justice, balancing cost against outcomes.
For return on investment in criminal justice, no school beat College Of Western Idaho this year. College Of Western Idaho is a very large public school located in the rural area of Nampa. In-state tuition and fees average $3,446, with out-of-state students paying around $7,454. Criminal Justice graduates carry a median of $7,381 in student loans. Soon after graduation, criminal justice degree recipients from College Of Western Idaho generally make around $35,959.
This list is compiled by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. Schools are scored on the balance of cost (tuition and student debt) against student outcomes (post-graduation earnings) — a measure of return on investment, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 2 schools evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 1 ranked schools only.
More about our data sources and methodologies.