2025 Best Criminal Justice Associate Degree Schools in New Jersey

Criminal Justice is of the hottest associate degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #10 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 3 schools in New Jersey to determine which ones were the best for associate degree seekers in the field of criminal justice. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 163 associate degrees in criminal justice during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Criminal Justice School for Your Associate Degree

Your choice of criminal justice for getting your associate degree school matters. Important measures of a quality criminal justice program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a associate degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on criminal justice students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of criminal justice students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized criminal justice related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for criminal justice students working on their associate degree.

More Ways to Rank Criminal Justice Schools

The criminal justice 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 Criminal Justice Associate Degree Schools in New Jersey.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Criminal Justice in New Jersey

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in criminal justice.

Top New Jersey Schools for an Associate in Criminal Justice

1

Raritan Valley Community College
Branchburg, NJ

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

47 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat Raritan Valley Community College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in criminal justice. Located in the rural area of Branchburg, RVCC is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a associate in criminal justice from Raritan Valley Community College

2

Rowan College of South Jersey Gloucester Campus
Sewell, NJ

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

57 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in criminal justice has to look into Rowan College of South Jersey Gloucester Campus. RCSJ is a medium-sized public college located in the suburb of Sewell.More information about a associate in criminal justice from Rowan College of South Jersey Gloucester Campus

3

Union County College
Cranford, NJ

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

59 Annual Graduates

Union County College is a good option for students interested in an associate degree in criminal justice. Located in the suburb of Cranford, Union County College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a associate in criminal justice from Union County College

Best Criminal Justice Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Criminal Justice Schools in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
New York	429	1,988
Pennsylvania	379	190
Maryland	221	16
Delaware	96	11

View All Rankings >

Criminal Justice Related Rankings by Major

Criminal Justice is one of 21 different types of Criminal Justice & Corrections programs to choose from.

Most Popular Majors Related to Criminal Justice

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Criminal Justice & Police Science	612
Other Corrections & Criminal Justice	30
Criminal Justice Studies	17
Security & Loss Prevention Services	1

Notes and References

• 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). More about our data sources and methodologies.