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Best Criminal Justice Schools Near Amherst, MA (2026)
Updated September 6, 2026BLS dataCollege ScorecardOn this page
Amherst, Massachusetts has 5 accredited schools offering criminal justice programs. Amherst has a population of about 40,989. In Massachusetts, the top-earning criminal justice-related role is Judge or Magistrate at a median $221,710 annually (BLS, May 2025).
Closest Criminal Justice Schools to Amherst
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer criminal justice programs near Amherst, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Amherst city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
How We Rank Schools
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most
recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS).
To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked
against schools at the same credential level:
BOCSCORE
Graduation rate 30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
Average net price (lower is better) 20%
Retention rate 15%
Fully online availability 10%
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score.
On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Amherst.
Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
BOC
Ranked by BOC Score — U.S. Dept. of Education outcome data. Advertising never affects rankings.
Amherst is part of the Amherst Town-Northampton, MA metro area (BLS area code 11200). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Massachusetts statewide.
Occupation
Median Wage
Source
COL-Adjusted (US=100)
Attorney
$122,670
Amherst Town-Northampton, MA
$122,425
Judge or Magistrate
$221,710
MA statewide
$221,267
Police Supervisor
$98,530
Amherst Town-Northampton, MA
$98,333
Detective or Criminal Investigator
$110,150
MA statewide
$109,930
Police or Sheriff’s Patrol Officer
$73,480
Amherst Town-Northampton, MA
$73,333
Correctional Officer
$86,310
MA statewide
$86,138
Probation Officer
$94,590
MA statewide
$94,401
Forensic Science Technician
$79,320
MA statewide
$79,162
Paralegal or Legal Assistant
$64,050
Amherst Town-Northampton, MA
$63,922
Information Security Analyst
$101,520
Amherst Town-Northampton, MA
$101,317
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
Amherst at a Glance
Metric
Value
Source
Regional Price Parity (US=100)
100.2 (above U.S. average)
BEA RPP 2024
Other Amherst-Area Cities With Criminal Justice Programs
How many accredited criminal justice schools are near Amherst, MA?
Our directory has 5 accredited schools offering criminal justice programs near Amherst. The closest is University of Massachusetts-Amherst in Amherst, MA (1.8 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Greenfield Community College (17.4 miles). 5 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.
What are the highest-paying criminal justice roles near Amherst?
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying criminal justice-related roles near Amherst are: Judge or Magistrate ($221,710), Attorney ($122,670), Detective or Criminal Investigator ($110,150). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Massachusetts statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
Should I look at programs in Northampton instead of Amherst?
Northampton, MA is 9.0 miles from Amherst and has its own set of local criminal justice programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
How do I verify a program is accredited?
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Data verified: September 6, 2026.
Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
