Best Criminology Schools Near Lake Charles, LA (2026)

Lake Charles, Louisiana has 9 accredited schools offering criminology programs, with tuition ranging from $1,770 to $24,146 per year for indexed programs. Lake Charles has a population of about 81,679. Median household income is $56,864 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 29.4% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In Louisiana, the top-earning criminology-related role is Probation Officer and Correctional Treatment Specialist at a median $62,910 annually (BLS, May 2025).

Closest Criminology Schools to Lake Charles

The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer criminology programs near Lake Charles, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Lake Charles city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.

Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all Louisiana schools on the Louisiana criminology page.

Criminology Wages Near Lake Charles

Lake Charles is part of the Lake Charles, LA metro area (BLS area code 29340). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Louisiana statewide.

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.

Lake Charles at a Glance

Other Lake Charles-Area Cities With Criminology Programs

• Sulphur, LA – 8.6 mi away (20,272 pop)
• Port Arthur, TX – 48.9 mi away (157,732 pop)
• Beaumont, TX – 56.2 mi away (147,935 pop)
• Abbeville, LA – 67.0 mi away (20,139 pop)
• Lafayette, LA – 70.7 mi away (267,376 pop)

Frequently Asked Questions

How many accredited criminology schools are near Lake Charles, LA?

Our directory has 9 accredited schools offering criminology programs near Lake Charles. The closest is McNeese State University in Lake Charles, LA (1.7 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Louisiana Christian University (90.5 miles). 8 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.

What are the highest-paying criminology roles near Lake Charles?

Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying criminology-related roles near Lake Charles are: Probation Officer and Correctional Treatment Specialist ($62,910), Detective and Criminal Investigator ($58,240), Police and Sheriff’s Patrol Officer ($56,290). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Louisiana statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.

Should I look at programs in Sulphur instead of Lake Charles?

Sulphur, LA is 8.6 miles from Lake Charles and has its own set of local criminology programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.

Is Lake Charles an affordable place to study criminology?

Lake Charles’s median household income of $56,864 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Lake Charles while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and Louisiana public universities often offer reduced in-state online tuition.

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.

Learn More About Criminology Programs

• Is a Criminology degree worth it?
• Main Criminology degree guide
• Online Criminology programs in Louisiana
• Criminology programs by state

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Compare every accredited online degree program with city-level data for Lake Charles:

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Data verified: August 11, 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.

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