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Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

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2023 Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

81 Colleges
$11,683 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$48,557 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 113,121 criminal justice and corrections students received a degree or certificate, making the major the #7 most popular in the country.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 81 schools in the Southeast Region to see which master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for criminal justice students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Colleges.

Top 15% Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools

#1

Columbia Southern University

Orange Beach, AL

Our 2023 rankings named Columbia Southern University the best value school in the Southeast Region for criminal justice and corrections students working on their master’s degree. Columbia Southern University is a large private for-profit school located in the fringe town of Orange Beach.

Columbia Southern University graduate students pay an average of $4,035 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Criminal Justice & Corrections at Columbia Southern University Report

The excellent master’s degree programs at Charleston Southern University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value criminal justice and corrections schools in the Southeast Region . CSU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Charleston.

CSU graduate students pay an average of $5,085 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Criminal Justice & Corrections at Charleston Southern University Report

#3

University of the Cumberlands

Williamsburg, KY

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of the Cumberlands. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the remote town of Williamsburg, Cumberlands is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Cumberlands are $4,582 a year.

Full Criminal Justice & Corrections at University of the Cumberlands Report

Out of the 81 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, American Public University System landed the # 4 spot on the list. American Military University is a very large private for-profit school located in the fringe town of Charles Town.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at American Military University are $7,050 a year.

Read More…

#5

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA

The excellent master’s degree programs at Liberty University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value criminal justice and corrections schools in the Southeast Region . Liberty University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Lynchburg.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Liberty University are $8,360 a year.

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#6

Guilford College

Greensboro, NC

Guilford College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the large city of Greensboro, Guilford is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Guilford are $5,400 per year.

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#7

Columbia College

Columbia, SC

Columbia College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for criminal justice and corrections students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Columbia, Columbia College South Carolina is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Columbia College South Carolina are $9,268 a year.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Columbia College

#8

Mississippi College

Clinton, MS

With a ranking of #8, Mississippi College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for criminal justice and corrections students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Clinton, MC is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at MC are $12,796 per year.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Mississippi College

Anderson University South Carolina came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Anderson University South Carolina is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Anderson.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Anderson University South Carolina are $11,643 a year.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Anderson University South Carolina

#9

Averett University

Danville, VA

Averett University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Located in the distant town of Danville, AU is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at AU are $11,940 a year.

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#11

Columbus State University

Columbus, GA

Columbus State University landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree criminal justice and corrections programs. Located in the medium-sized city of Columbus, CSU is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

CSU graduate students pay an average of $13,264 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Columbus State University

#12

Bethel University

McKenzie, TN

Bethel University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree criminal justice and corrections programs. Located in the town of McKenzie, Bethel is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Bethel graduate students pay an average of $11,723 in tuition and fees each year.

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Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region award.

Rank College Location
13 Faulkner University Montgomery, AL
14 William Carey University Hattiesburg, MS
15 University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg, MS
16 Lynn University Boca Raton, FL
16 University of North Georgia Dahlonega, GA

Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Colleges by State

Explore the best criminal justice and corrections colleges for a specific state in the Southeast region.

State Degrees Awarded
Georgia 2,158
Virginia 2,948
North Carolina 2,702
Florida 4,869
Tennessee 1,212
Kentucky 1,015
South Carolina 993
Louisiana 972
Arkansas 665
Alabama 1,413
Mississippi 581
West Virginia 1,320

One of 4 majors within the area of study, criminal justice and corrections has other similar majors worth exploring.

Majors Similar to Criminal Justice

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fire Protection 13,766
Homeland Security 7,140
Security Science and Technology 6,888
Other Homeland Security 1,695

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • 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.

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