2025 Best Criminal Justice Associate Degree Schools in Virginia

If you pursue a associate degree in criminal justice, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #10 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual looked at 4 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Criminal Justice Associate Degree Schools in Virginia ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 254 associate degrees in criminal justice during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Criminal Justice School for Your Associate Degree

The criminal justice associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to criminal justice students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other criminal justice students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized criminal justice related body.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Virginia.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Criminal Justice in Virginia

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for criminal justice students seeking a an associate degree.

Top Virginia Schools for an Associate in Criminal Justice

1

Northern Virginia Community College
Annandale, VA

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

28 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in criminal justice needs to take a look at Northern Virginia Community College. Northern Virginia Community College is a fairly large public college located in the large suburb of Annandale.More information about a associate in criminal justice from Northern Virginia Community College

2

Tidewater Community College
Norfolk, VA

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

69 Annual Graduates

Tidewater Community College is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in criminal justice. Located in the city of Norfolk, Tidewater Community College is a public college with a large student population.More information about a associate in criminal justice from Tidewater Community College

3

John Tyler Community College
Chester, VA

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

20 Annual Graduates

John Tyler Community College is a good option for students pursuing an associate degree in criminal justice. John Tyler Community College is a moderately-sized public college located in the large suburb of Chester.More information about a associate in criminal justice from John Tyler Community College

4

Reynolds Community College
Richmond, VA

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

10 Annual Graduates

Reynolds Community College is one of the finest schools in the country for getting an associate degree in criminal justice. Reynolds Community College is a medium-sized public college located in the suburb of Richmond.More information about a associate in criminal justice from Reynolds Community College

Best Criminal Justice Colleges in the Southeast Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Mississippi	272	16
Florida	232	710
North Carolina	231	1
Georgia	217	120
Tennessee	170	12
Arkansas	161	44
Kentucky	129	213
Louisiana	124	23
South Carolina	105	31

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Criminal Justice

One of 21 majors within the Criminal Justice & Corrections area of study, Criminal Justice has other similar majors worth exploring.

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Criminal Justice Studies	205
Corrections	6

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.