Ranked #4 in popularity, criminal justice & corrections is one of the most sought-after associate degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 4 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Associate Degree Schools in Iowa ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 244 associate degrees in criminal justice & corrections to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great Criminal Justice & Corrections School for Your Associate Degree
Your choice of criminal justice & corrections for getting your associate degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To account for this we include a college'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.
Average Early-Career Salaries
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their associate degree from the school. After all, your associate degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on criminal justice & corrections students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of criminal justice & corrections students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
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.
Student Debt - How easy is it for criminal justice & corrections to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized criminal justice & corrections related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for criminal justice & corrections students working on their associate degree.
More Ways to Rank Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Associate Degree Schools in Iowa ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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Des Moines Area Community College is a great choice for individuals interested in an associate degree in criminal justice & corrections. DMACC is a fairly large public college located in the large suburb of Ankeny.
After graduating, criminal justice associate recipients typically make about $42,555 at the beginning of their careers.
Western Iowa Tech Community College is a great option for students pursuing an associate degree in criminal justice & corrections. Western Iowa Tech Community College is a medium-sized public college located in the small city of Sioux City.
Soon after graduating, criminal justice associate recipients usually earn around $43,547 at the beginning of their careers.
Every student who is interested in an associate degree in criminal justice & corrections has to check out Hawkeye Community College. Located in the rural area of Waterloo, Hawkeye Community College is a public college with a small student population.
Criminal Justice & Corrections associate degree recipients from Hawkeye Community College get an earnings boost of approximately $5,873 over the average income of criminal justice & corrections majors.
It is hard to beat Iowa Central Community College if you want to pursue an associate degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the remote town of Fort Dodge, Iowa Central Community College is a public college with a small student population.
After graduating, criminal justice associate recipients usually make about $39,121 in the first five years of their career.
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.