2023 Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Undergraduate Certificate 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.
There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 12 schools in the Southwest Region to see which undergraduate certificate 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.
When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. 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.
Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.
Top 10 Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Undergraduate Certificate Schools
Our 2023 rankings named El Centro College the best value school in the Southwest Region for criminal justice and corrections students working on their undergraduate certificate. El Centro College is a very large public school located in the large city of Dallas.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at El Centro College are $6,000 a year. While working on their Undergraduate Certificate, criminal justice majors at El Centro College accumulate an average of around $20,000 in student debt.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, El Centro College is ranked #5 for overall quality for criminal justice in the Southwest Region .
Full Criminal Justice & Corrections at El Centro College Report
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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means McLennan Community College is a great value for criminal justice and corrections students working on their undergraduate certificate. Located in the medium-sized city of Waco, MCC is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
MCC undergraduate students pay an average of $5,910 in tuition and fees each year. While working on their Undergraduate Certificate, criminal justice majors at MCC accumulate an average of around $17,106 in student debt.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, MCC also did well on our Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Rio Salado College is a great value for criminal justice and corrections students working on their undergraduate certificate. Rio Salado College is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Tempe.
Rio Salado College undergraduate students pay an average of $7,854 in tuition and fees each year. Criminal Justice majors at Rio Salado College take out an average of $14,169 in student loans while working on their Undergraduate Certificate.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Rio Salado College also did well on our Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Blinn College. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the distant town of Brenham, Blinn College is a public college with a large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Blinn College are $10,530 per year. Criminal Justice majors at Blinn College take out an average of $13,140 in student loans while working on their Undergraduate Certificate.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Pima Community College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the large city of Tucson, Pima County Community College District is a public school with a large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Pima County Community College District are $7,566 a year. After completing their Undergraduate Certificate, criminal justice graduates from Pima County Community College District carry an average student debtload of $16,972.
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With a ranking of #6, Cochise County Community College District did quite well on this year’s best value schools for criminal justice and corrections students working on their undergraduate certificate. Located in the city of Sierra Vista, Cochise College is a public college with a small student population.
Cochise College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,240 in tuition and fees each year.
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With a ranking of #7, Austin Community College District did quite well on this year’s best value schools for criminal justice and corrections students working on their undergraduate certificate. Austin Community College District is a very large public school located in the large city of Austin.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Austin Community College District are $10,590 per year. Criminal Justice majors at Austin Community College District take out an average of $21,514 in student loans while working on their Undergraduate Certificate.
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Trinity Valley Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for criminal justice and corrections students to get a undergraduate certificate. It came in at #8 on the list. TVCC is a medium-sized public school located in the distant town of Athens.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at TVCC are $5,970 per year.
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With a ranking of #9, El Paso Community College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for criminal justice and corrections students working on their undergraduate certificate. El Paso Community College is a fairly large public school located in the city of El Paso.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at El Paso Community College are $5,314 per year.
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Glendale Community College came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Glendale Community College is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Glendale.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Glendale Community College are $7,854 per year.
Request InformationBest Criminal Justice & Corrections Colleges by State
Explore the best criminal justice and corrections schools for a specific state in the Southwest region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Texas | 7,644 |
| Arizona | 3,363 |
| Oklahoma | 655 |
| New Mexico | 571 |
More Criminal Justice & Corrections Rankings in the Southwest Region
Criminal Justice & Corrections Related Majors for Criminal Justice
One of 4 majors within the area of study, criminal justice and corrections has other similar majors worth exploring.
Most Popular Related Majors
| 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 12 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.