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Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region

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2023 Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

12 Colleges
$8,267 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$37,685 Avg Salary

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.

2023 Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for criminal justice majors pursuing a undergraduate certificate.

Top 10 Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Undergraduate Certificate Schools

#1

El Centro College

Dallas, TX

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 fairly large public school located in the city of Dallas.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at El Centro College are $6,000 per 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 .

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at El Centro College

The excellent undergraduate certificate programs at McLennan Community College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value criminal justice and corrections schools in the Southwest Region . Located in the midsize city of Waco, MCC is a public college 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.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at McLennan Community College

#3

Rio Salado College

Tempe, AZ

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 large public school located in the medium-sized 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.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Rio Salado College also is in the top 10% of our Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region ranking.

Full Criminal Justice & Corrections at Rio Salado College Report

#4

Blinn College

Brenham, TX

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Blinn College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 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 school with a large student population.

Blinn College undergraduate students pay an average of $10,530 in tuition and fees each year. Criminal Justice majors at Blinn College take out an average of $13,140 in student loans while working on their Undergraduate Certificate.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at Blinn College

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Pima Community College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the city of Tucson, Pima County Community College District is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Pima County Community College District are $7,566 per year. After completing their Undergraduate Certificate, criminal justice graduates from Pima County Community College District carry an average student debtload of $16,972.

Read More…

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 school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Cochise College are $6,240 a year.

Read More…

Austin Community College District 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 #7 on the list. Austin Community College District is a very large public school located in the city of Austin.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Austin Community College District are $10,590 a 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.

Read More…

Trinity Valley Community College landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value undergraduate certificate criminal justice and corrections programs. TVCC is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Athens.

TVCC undergraduate students pay an average of $5,970 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

El Paso Community College ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Criminal Justice & Corrections Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region list. El Paso Community College is a fairly large public school located in the city of El Paso.

El Paso Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,314 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Criminal Justice & Corrections at El Paso Community College

#10

Glendale Community College

Glendale, AZ

Glendale 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 #10 on the list. Glendale Community College is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Glendale.

Glendale Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $7,854 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Criminal Justice & Corrections at Glendale Community College Report

Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Colleges by State

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

State Degrees Awarded
Texas 7,644
Arizona 3,363
Oklahoma 655
New Mexico 571

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

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.

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