The Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice (CCJS) at the University of Maryland (UMD) is ranked No. 1 overall among the 42 criminology institutions in the United States, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 Criminology Graduate Schools rankings.

"I am delighted to hear that our Department has again been ranked by professional criminologists as the number one program in America.  This is a real statement about the quality of our graduate students," said Professor Gary LaFree, chair of the department.

The Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice was established in 1969 and graduated its first doctoral students in 1978/79. The Department has grown to be one of the most popular majors on campus, with the #1 ranked doctoral program in the United States (U.S. News and World Report, 2005, 2010, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022). 

Congratulations to the department for your continued efforts to uphold our graduate program's standard of excellence!