15 Best Online Criminal Justice Degree Bachelor’s Programs

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• Penn State Glob­al Cam­pus and Indi­ana Tech have two top online bach­e­lor’s in crim­i­nal jus­tice degree pro­grams.
• Pro­grams include a vari­ety of spe­cial­iza­tions such as cor­rec­tions, home­land secu­ri­ty, and foren­sic sci­ence.
• The rank­ings high­light accred­it­ed and rep­utable insti­tu­tions ensur­ing qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion and bet­ter job prospects.
• Online degrees in crim­i­nal jus­tice can lead to career advance­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties, high­er earn­ing poten­tial, and roles in law enforce­ment, cor­rec­tions, and relat­ed fields.

Work­ing peo­ple in the crim­i­nal jus­tice and crim­i­nol­o­gy field often start with just a high school diplo­ma or associate’s degree, but today, they can earn their bachelor’s on their own time with an online pro­gram. The top rea­son most peo­ple pick an online pro­gram in crim­i­nal jus­tice is that they can quick­ly get through the pro­gram and start mak­ing the most of their careers. Some jobs in crim­i­nal jus­tice can also start even while the stu­dent is still com­plet­ing their train­ing and oth­er online course­work. These oppor­tu­ni­ties offer the active, excit­ing, and hands-on expe­ri­ences that may first begin dur­ing train­ing but con­tin­ue will also as part of a long-term career.

There are a num­ber of vari­ables to con­sid­er when select­ing the best crim­i­nal jus­tice schools you can trust. The best crim­i­nal jus­tice schools should be accred­it­ed, with a good rep­u­ta­tion. The best col­leges should also offer job mar­ket net­work­ing, with sta­tis­ti­cal details about the hire rate after com­plet­ing the pro­gram. The most trust­ed pro­grams include fac­ul­ty who have real-world expe­ri­ence in crim­i­nal jus­tice fields. Stu­dents are exposed to the­o­ry as well as emerg­ing glob­al and nation­al trends.

Relat­ed:

• Best Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Bach­e­lor’s Degrees
• Fastest Online Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Degrees
• Most Afford­able Online Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Degrees
• Best Online Train­ing and Devel­op­ment Programs

Methodology: Ranking the Best Online Criminal Justice Degree Programs

Peo­ple who are inter­est­ed in an online crim­i­nal jus­tice pro­gram ‑pri­mar­i­ly adults already work­ing in the field — have very real-world con­cerns about choos­ing a col­lege. That’s why Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter edi­tors focus just on accred­it­ed, trust­ed insti­tu­tions. Pro­grams are ranked accord­ing to five fac­tors: Alum­ni Salary, Grad­u­a­tion Rate, Job Place­ment, Stu­dent Sat­is­fac­tion, and Tuition Costs.

1. Penn State World Campus

Penn State World Cam­pus offers a BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice that is avail­able entire­ly online. Stu­dents vying for this online Crim­i­nal Jus­tice degree must com­plete 120 cred­it units to grad­u­ate. This online Crim­i­nal Jus­tice bach­e­lor degree pre­pares degree grad­u­ates in the areas of polic­ing, ethics, crim­i­nol­o­gy, cor­rec­tions, pathol­o­gy, and soci­ol­o­gy, to name a few. Crim­i­nal Jus­tice stu­dents who are mil­i­tary mem­bers receive low­ered tuition and expenses.

Penn State World Cam­pus was char­tered in 1998 and is the offi­cial online learn­ing plat­form offered by Penn State Uni­ver­si­ty. Penn State World Cam­pus pro­vides the same qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion as the degree pro­grams offered on-cam­pus. This strict­ly online school offers both grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate pro­grams and is rec­og­nized by US News among the top five online bac­calau­re­ate programs.

What We Like: Penn State Online is the lat­est iter­a­tion of Penn State’s com­mit­ment to dis­tance learning.

Degree: BS in Crim­i­nal Justice

Learn more about this online crim­i­nal jus­tice program!

2. Indiana Institute of Technology

The Indi­ana Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy offers three online Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Bach­e­lor Degree pro­grams — a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice (BSCJ), the BSCJ in Admin­is­tra­tion, and the BSCJ Reha­bil­i­ta­tion Ser­vices. Each of Indi­ana Tech’s These online crim­i­nal jus­tice degree pro­grams pre­pares stu­dents for careers in the fields of cor­rec­tions, pro­ba­tion, law enforce­ment, and pro­fil­ing, to name a few. Indi­ana Insti­tute of Technology’s crim­i­nal jus­tice pro­grams offer intern­ship oppor­tu­ni­ties with the state police and the local coun­ty’s crim­i­nal jus­tice system.

The Indi­ana Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy was estab­lished in 1930 as a for-prof­it busi­ness school but has since been reor­ga­nized as a non­prof­it insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing. The school’s main cam­pus is in Fort Wayne; how­ev­er, the school oper­ates anoth­er thir­teen loca­tions through­out Indi­ana and Kentucky.

What We Like: Indi­ana Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy is a spe­cial­ty school that focus­es on career-ori­ent­ed pro­grams in edu­ca­tion, crim­i­nal jus­tice, engi­neer­ing, and crim­i­nal justice.

Degree: BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice, BSCJ Admin­is­tra­tion, BSCJ Reha­bil­i­ta­tion Services

Learn more about this online crim­i­nal jus­tice program!

3. Florida State University

Flori­da State University’s Col­lege of Crim­i­nol­o­gy & Crim­i­nal Jus­tice offers an online bachelor’s degree in crim­i­nol­o­gy. The pro­gram requires com­ple­tion of 36 cred­it hours in crim­i­nol­o­gy and crim­i­nal jus­tice. Stu­dents must also ful­fill all uni­ver­si­ty require­ments for the bach­e­lor of sci­ence degree. The dis­tance learn­ing pro­gram offers flex­i­bil­i­ty and con­ve­nience for work­ing learn­ers or full-time par­ents. In addi­tion, all class­es are taught by nation­al­ly known pro­fes­sors who are lead­ers in the field.

Flori­da State Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1851. Flori­da State holds the dis­tinc­tion of being a sea-grant and space-grant insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion, and the senior mem­ber school of the State Uni­ver­si­ty Sys­tem in Flori­da. FSU’s Tal­la­has­see cam­pus cov­ers near­ly 1,500 acres and serves more than 41,000 students.

What We Like: US News rec­og­nizes Flori­da State Uni­ver­si­ty among the top twen­ty nation­al pub­lic uni­ver­si­ties in the nation.

Degree: BS in Criminology

Learn more about this online crim­i­nal jus­tice program!

4. University of Oklahoma

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Oklahoma’s Extend­ed Cam­pus offers a BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice that is avail­able 100% online. OU’s online Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Bach­e­lor Degree pro­gram requires degree can­di­dates to com­plete 120 cred­it units to grad­u­ate, and 30 of which must be earned at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Okla­homa. The Prince­ton Review and US News rec­og­nize OU’s online crim­i­nal jus­tice degree pro­gram among the best in the coun­try. Stu­dents can opt for a con­cen­tra­tion in Admin­is­tra­tive Lead­er­ship, Home­land Secu­ri­ty, Intel­li­gence, or Restora­tive Jus­tice, among a few others.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Okla­homa was estab­lished in 1890, near­ly two decades before Okla­homa became a state. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Okla­homa’s 3000+ acre cam­pus is home to almost 29,000 stu­dents study­ing for over 400 under­grad­u­ate, grad­u­ate, doc­tor­al degrees, and pro­fes­sion­al certificates.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Okla­homa oper­ates inter­na­tion­al cam­pus­es in Brazil, Turkey, and Mexico.

Degree: BS in Crim­i­nal Justice

Learn more about this online crim­i­nal jus­tice program!

5. Washington State University Global Campus

Wash­ing­ton State Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice that is rec­og­nized among the top nation­al pro­grams by US News & World Report. The school’s online crim­i­nal jus­tice degree pro­gram requires stu­dents to com­plete course­work in Crim­i­nal Law & Pro­ce­dure, Crim­i­nol­o­gy The­o­ry, Crim­i­nal Law, and Crime Poli­cies, to name a few. WSU — Glob­al Cam­pus’ online Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Bach­e­lor Degree pro­gram is the high-tech deliv­ery of a crim­i­nal jus­tice degree that is the 2nd old­est pro­gram in the country.

Wash­ing­ton State Uni­ver­si­ty Glob­al Cam­pus was estab­lished in 2012. Wash­ing­ton State Uni­ver­si­ty Glob­al Cam­pus is the online exten­sion of Wash­ing­ton State Uni­ver­si­ty. The par­ent insti­tu­tion WSU was estab­lished in 1890 under the Mor­rill Land Grant Act.

What We Like: Wash­ing­ton State Uni­ver­si­ty Glob­al Cam­pus is head­quar­tered in Pull­man, WA and serves more than 3,000 students.

Degree: BA in Crim­i­nal Justice

Learn more about this online crim­i­nal jus­tice program!

6. Arizona State University

Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Crim­i­nol­o­gy & Jus­tice that can be com­plet­ed 100% online. The online Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Bach­e­lor Degree offered by ASU Online requires a total of 120 cred­it hours, of which 45 cred­it units must be upper-divi­sion cours­es. The online crim­i­nal jus­tice degree is eli­gi­ble for those stu­dents who wish to fast-track their edu­ca­tion. Career oppor­tu­ni­ties for this crim­i­nal jus­tice degree include Foren­sic Spe­cial­ist, Cor­rec­tions Sergeant, Fraud Inves­ti­ga­tor, and Intel­li­gence Offi­cer, to name just a few.

Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1885 before Ari­zona became a state. ASU oper­ates sev­er­al cam­pus­es in Ari­zona, with an addi­tion­al 30,000+ stu­dents study­ing on the school’s dis­tance learn­ing plat­form. The uni­ver­si­ty is orga­nized into eleven colleges/schools.

What We Like: Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty is one of the few uni­ver­si­ties to have a stu­dent enroll­ment that exceeds 100,000.

Degree: BS in Crim­i­nol­o­gy and Justice

Learn more about this online crim­i­nal jus­tice program!

7. CSU Global

Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty Glob­al offers a Bach­e­lor of Crim­i­nal Jus­tice (BCJ) that is avail­able entire­ly online. CSU Glob­al’s online crim­i­nal jus­tice degree pro­gram pre­pares stu­dents to enter the crim­i­nal jus­tice field as Pro­ba­tion Offi­cers, Pri­vate Detec­tives, Police Offi­cers, and Emer­gency Man­age­ment Direc­tors. Course­work for this online Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Bach­e­lor Degree includes Lead­er­ship Prin­ci­ples, Crit­i­cal Rea­son­ing, Crim­i­nol­o­gy, Laws of Evi­dence, and Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Ethics, among oth­ers. Degree can­di­dates require the com­ple­tion of 120 cred­it units and a cul­mi­nat­ing cap­stone demon­strat­ing the student’s Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Knowl­edge & Skills.

Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1870, and CSU Glob­al – the dis­tance learn­ing exten­sion sis­ter school in the CSU Sys­tem – was estab­lished in 2007. CSU Glob­al serves over 19,000 stu­dents. CSU Glob­al oper­ates its dis­tance learn­ing pro­gram using Canvas.

What We Like: CSU Glob­al pro­vides pro­grams and degrees for non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dents and work­ing learners.

Degree: Bach­e­lor’s of Crim­i­nal Justice

Learn more about this online crim­i­nal jus­tice program!

8. University of Central Florida

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cen­tral Florida’s Col­lege of Com­mu­ni­ty Inno­va­tion & Edu­ca­tion offers a BA or BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice that is avail­able to com­plete entire­ly online. UCF’s online crim­i­nal jus­tice degree pro­gram is rec­og­nized as a ‘best-val­ue’ insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing by Forbes, Kiplinger, and The Prince­ton Review. Stu­dents who are new stu­dents to the Uni­ver­si­ty of Cen­tral Flori­da that choose to enroll in the school’s online Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Bach­e­lor Degree receive reduced expens­es and tuition fees.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cen­tral Flori­da is a pub­lic insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion that was estab­lished in 1963. The school’s urban main cam­pus cov­ers near­ly 1,500 acres and serves more than 68,000 stu­dents. UCF is orga­nized into thir­teen schools/colleges and an addi­tion­al ten satel­lite facil­i­ties in the cen­tral por­tion of Florida.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cen­tral Flori­da holds the dis­tinc­tion of hav­ing more on-cam­pus enrolled stu­dents than any oth­er school in the nation.

Degree: BA or BS in Crim­i­nal Justice

Learn more about this online crim­i­nal jus­tice program!

9. University of Wisconsin Platteville

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin Plat­teville offers a BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice degree pro­gram that is avail­able entire­ly through the school’s dis­tance learn­ing pro­gram. The online crim­i­nal jus­tice degree pro­gram offered by UW Plat­teville pro­vides trans­fer stu­dents the oppor­tu­ni­ty to apply for trans­fer cred­its through artic­u­la­tion agree­ments and pro­fes­sion­al work expe­ri­ence. Addi­tion­al­ly, UW Plat­teville’s online Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Bach­e­lor Degree pro­grams offer schol­ar­ship oppor­tu­ni­ties to eli­gi­ble dis­tance-learn­ing stu­dents and work­ing learn­ers. Crim­i­nal Jus­tice grad­u­ates find reward­ing careers in the US legal sys­tem, the cor­rec­tions sys­tem, or law enforce­ment, among others.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin Plat­teville was estab­lished in 1866. UW Plat­teville is a mem­ber school of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin sys­tem. UW Plat­teville’s cam­pus has no com­mer­cial roads that run through it. The 800+-acre cam­pus serves more than 8,600 stu­dents on-cam­pus and anoth­er sev­er­al thou­sand of stu­dents study­ing online.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin Plat­teville began offer­ing print­ed dis­tance-learn­ing course­work in the late 1990s.

Degree: BS in Crim­i­nal Justice

Learn more about this online crim­i­nal jus­tice program!

10. Ball State University

Ball State Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice & Crim­i­nol­o­gy that is avail­able 100% online. Ball State University’s online Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Bach­e­lor Degree pro­grams are cus­tomiz­able to meet a student’s exact career objec­tives. Grad­u­ates of BSU’s online crim­i­nal jus­tice degree pro­gram are read­i­ly pre­pared for careers in Law Enforce­ment, Parole Offi­cers, Insti­tu­tion­al Coun­selors, and Vic­tim Advo­cates, to name a few. Ball State University’s bac­calau­re­ate crim­i­nal jus­tice degree can­di­dates are required to com­plete 120 cred­it units and a cul­mi­nat­ing cap­stone experience.

Ball State Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1918 by the phil­an­thropic indus­tri­al­ists known as the Ball Broth­ers. The cur­rent Muncie, IN cam­pus, cov­ers more than 1,000 acres and serves more than 22,000 stu­dents. Ball State Uni­ver­si­ty is home to the David Owsley Muse­um of Art since the mid-1930s.

What We Like: Ball State Uni­ver­si­ty began as a nor­mal teacher’s col­lege with one-year tuition of $10.

Degree: BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice and Criminology

Learn more about this online crim­i­nal jus­tice program!

11. Drexel University Online

Drex­el Uni­ver­si­ty offers an online BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice degree pro­gram. The Crim­i­nol­o­gy online crim­i­nal jus­tice degree pro­gram is deliv­ered using semes­ter quar­ters rather than semi-annu­al semes­ters. Trans­fer stu­dents enrolling in Drex­el Online’s BS in Crim­i­nol­o­gy and Crim­i­nal Jus­tice pro­gram are eli­gi­ble to trans­fer up to 90 cred­its. Course­work includes Cul­tur­al Diver­si­ty, Polit­i­cal Sci­ence, Race Crime & Jus­tice, Sen­tenc­ing, and Crime Pre­ven­tion Plan­ning, among oth­ers. It is not­ed that degree grad­u­ates must also com­plete an inde­pen­dent study to graduate.

Drex­el Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1891 as a non­prof­it insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing. Drex­el Uni­ver­si­ty Online was first estab­lished in 1996 as a pri­vate for-prof­it school but has since become a direct inter­nal divi­sion of Drex­el University.

What We Like: In 2007, Drex­el Uni­ver­si­ty Online took the ini­tia­tive and found­ed the Nation­al Dis­tance Learn­ing Week.

Degree: BS in Crim­i­nal Justice

Learn more about this online crim­i­nal jus­tice program!

12. UMass Lowell

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts, Lowell’s Grad­u­ate, Online & Pro­fes­sion­als Stud­ies divi­sion, offers a BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice that is avail­able entire­ly online or as a hybrid deliv­ery option. UMass Low­ell’s online crim­i­nal jus­tice degree pro­gram pro­vides trans­fer stu­dents the oppor­tu­ni­ty to trans­fer up to 90 cred­it units. The online crim­i­nal jus­tice degree pro­gram offered by UMass Low­ell includes course­work that includes ter­ror­ism, crim­i­nal pro­fil­ing, vic­ti­mol­o­gy, home­land secu­ri­ty, and emer­gency man­age­ment, among others.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts, Low­ell, was estab­lished in 1894 as a nor­mal school in the Com­mon­wealth of Mass­a­chu­setts. UMass Low­ell is the largest insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing in Mass­a­chu­setts’ Mer­ri­mack Val­ley Region and the 2nd largest in the com­mon­wealth. The school’s 100+ acre urban cam­pus is home to more than 18,000 students.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts, Low­ell, is one of only a few pub­lic schools with a degree pro­gram in the tech­nol­o­gy of sound record­ing, mete­o­rol­o­gy, and the engi­neer­ing of plastics.

Degree: BS in Crim­i­nal Justice

Learn more about this online crim­i­nal jus­tice program!

13. Indiana Wesleyan University

Indi­ana Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice that is avail­able com­plete­ly online. IWU’s online Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Bach­e­lor Degree pro­gram requires degree can­di­dates to com­plete 42 cred­it hours of required class­es in crim­i­nal jus­tice. It is pos­si­ble to com­plete this online crim­i­nal jus­tice degree pro­gram in about one and one-half years.

Indi­ana Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished as a pri­vate insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion in 1920. IWU is affil­i­at­ed with the Wes­leyan Church. The school’s main Mar­i­on sub­ur­ban cam­pus serves more than 3,000 stu­dents study­ing in a tra­di­tion­al classroom.

What We Like: Indi­ana Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty serves stu­dents on-cam­pus, through dis­tance learn­ing options and the fif­teen edu­ca­tions locat­ed in Ohio, Indi­ans, and Kentucky.

Degree: BS in Crim­i­nal Justice

Learn more about this online crim­i­nal jus­tice program!

14. University of Nebraska at Kearney

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Nebras­ka at Kear­ney offers a com­plete­ly online BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice. Online Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Bach­e­lor Degree grad­u­ates are pre­pared for careers as a Bor­der Patrol Agent, Police Offi­cers, or Pri­vate Inves­ti­ga­tors, to name a few. Stu­dents study­ing for the online crim­i­nal jus­tice degree pro­gram requires the com­ple­tion of 120 cred­it units, which includes a five-cred­it internship.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Nebras­ka at Kear­ney was estab­lished in 1904 as a Nebras­ka State Nor­mal school. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Nebras­ka at Kear­ney is a mem­ber school of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Nebras­ka sys­tem. UNK’s rur­al cam­pus is home to more than 6,200 students.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Nebras­ka at Kearney’s first res­i­den­tial hall was for women. The men’s res­i­dence was fin­ished the fol­low­ing year.

Degree: BS in Crim­i­nal Justice

Learn more about this online crim­i­nal jus­tice program!

15. University of Nebraska at Omaha

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Nebras­ka at Oma­ha offers a BS in Crim­i­nol­o­gy and Crim­i­nal Jus­tice that is deliv­ered 100% online. Degree grad­u­ates of the online crim­i­nal jus­tice degree pro­gram must com­plete 120 cred­it units to grad­u­ate — with a min­i­mum GPA of 2.0. Online Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Bach­e­lor Degree stu­dents have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to study abroad and learn how the Unit­ed Kingdom’s jus­tice sys­tem operates.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Nebras­ka at Oma­ha was estab­lished as a pub­lic insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion in 1908 that was ini­tial­ly a Chris­t­ian-based cur­ricu­lum. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Nebras­ka at Omaha’s urban cam­pus is home to more than 15,000 students.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Nebras­ka at Oma­ha is home to the $70 mil­lion Com­put­er and Engi­neer­ing facil­i­ty known as UNO.

Degree: BS in Crim­i­nol­o­gy and Crim­i­nal Justice

Learn more about this online crim­i­nal jus­tice program!

Should I Choose a Local Criminal Justice School or Online?

There can be a vari­ety of ben­e­fits to tak­ing online class­es from the top crim­i­nal jus­tice col­leges com­pared to a local crim­i­nal jus­tice school. Search­ing for “crim­i­nal jus­tice schools near me” it becomes evi­dent that local schools can be restric­tive. A local pro­gram may not offer the lev­el of flex­i­bil­i­ty or range of spe­cial­ized con­tent avail­able via online pro­grams. An online degree from top crim­i­nal jus­tice col­leges pre­pares stu­dents for a career in cor­rec­tions, law enforce­ment, cyber­crime, juve­nile jus­tice, and home­land secu­ri­ty, as well as train­ing that’s use­ful in social services.

With the top crim­i­nal jus­tice col­leges, asso­ci­at­ed online class­es may offer low­er costs, as well as the flex­i­bil­i­ty of at-home study and access to world-class experts in the field of crim­i­nal jus­tice. It’s often eas­i­er and more cost-effec­tive to find top crim­i­nal jus­tice col­leges online that help pro­fes­sion­als to devel­op com­pe­ten­cy in crim­i­nal jus­tice. They also suc­cess­ful­ly offer vir­tu­al net­work­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties that are more effec­tive than local col­lab­o­ra­tion ever could be. There are lots of rea­sons to choose a career in crim­i­nal jus­tice or criminology.

A crim­i­nal jus­tice career with a bach­e­lor of arts can include a spe­cial­iza­tion like

• crime scene investigation
• juve­nile delinquency
• foren­sic science
• crim­i­nal investigation
• crim­i­nal behavior
• cyber­se­cu­ri­ty
• para­le­gal
• pub­lic safety
• pri­vate security

Law enforce­ment offi­cers may find a degree com­ple­tion pro­gram helps improve their pay. Oth­er careers with­in the court sys­tem include para­le­gal (with a legal stud­ies or jus­tice stud­ies degree). A bachelor’s is also required for crim­i­nal jus­tice pro­fes­sion­als who want to go to law school.

How Do I Know I Can Trust a Criminal Justice Program?

The best crim­i­nol­o­gy col­leges com­bine law, soci­ol­o­gy, and psy­chol­o­gy. Stu­dents need the skills and knowl­edge to under­stand the jus­tice sys­tem and learn how to deal with crim­i­nals. The goal of crim­i­nal jus­tice and crim­i­nol­o­gy pro­grams you can trust is to pre­vent crime. Crim­i­nal jus­tice accred­i­ta­tion is the best and eas­i­est way to find pro­grams at the best crim­i­nol­o­gy col­leges that pre­pare stu­dents for a career in crim­i­nal jus­tice and crim­i­nol­o­gy. These pro­grams are built on trust, with the prospect of a long and fruit­ful career that’s ready and wait­ing at the com­ple­tion of the course of study.

Beyond the job secu­ri­ty, there’s also the real­iza­tion that the course­work, train­ing, and even the even­tu­al job oppor­tu­ni­ties are all pred­i­cat­ed upon val­ues and stan­dards that are eth­i­cal and high-mind­ed. The goal is to offer assis­tance and jus­tice to the vic­tims. At the same time, the crim­i­nal jus­tice train­ing, course­work, and career oppor­tu­ni­ties revolve around the pur­suit of jus­tice and the pro­tec­tion of the inno­cent. The very premise means a cho­sen career path that will be chal­leng­ing and demand­ing as it offers a wide range of rewards and benefits.

Also look for finan­cial aid offer­ings, tuition rates, and col­lege cred­it for work expe­ri­ence. Crim­i­nal jus­tice majors get­ting an online bach­e­lor of sci­ence may get a lot of gen­er­al edu­ca­tion out of the way at com­mu­ni­ty col­lege. Online stu­dents may be focused on their career goals and not need an in-per­son program.

Can I Get a Job with an Online Criminal Justice Degree?

A Crim­i­nal Jus­tice degree pre­pares stu­dents for entry-lev­el crim­i­nal jus­tice jobs like inves­ti­ga­tors, police offi­cers, legal assis­tants and sec­re­taries, crime ana­lysts, cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers, and FBI agents. The bachelor’s degree pre­pares stu­dents for crim­i­nal jus­tice for careers that involve crim­i­nal law and jus­tice. When search­ing for “crim­i­nal jus­tice jobs near me,” it’s clear that these jobs are in demand, although some on-the-job train­ing may be required.

More than three mil­lion peo­ple are employed in the crim­i­nal jus­tice field, accord­ing to the Bureau of Labor Sta­tis­tics. With so many job options to select from, and salary ranges that start at $10.63 for entry-lev­el crim­i­nal jus­tice jobs, there’s a great deal of flex­i­bil­i­ty in this career option. The high­est lev­el of employ­ment with a Crim­i­nal Jus­tice degree are in gov­ern­ment, inves­ti­ga­tion, or edu­ca­tion. When search­ing for “crim­i­nal jus­tice jobs near me,” the top-pay­ing jobs also turn out to be in postal ser­vices, nat­ur­al gas dis­tri­b­u­tion, and advertising.

Entry-lev­el jobs in crim­i­nal jus­tice offer job sta­bil­i­ty in a range of careers that are specif­i­cal­ly relat­ed to help­ing peo­ple and engag­ing the indi­vid­ual in a demand­ing field. Many of the jobs involve some aspect of uncov­er­ing the truth and bring­ing the guilty to jus­tice. These jobs also offer health and retire­ment ben­e­fits that make it appeal­ing to job seek­ers. With a degree in crim­i­nal jus­tice, these posi­tions sup­port and facil­i­tate unique and mean­ing­ful expe­ri­ences. Stu­dents who are look­ing for­ward to a career in crim­i­nal jus­tice and crim­i­nol­o­gy often look for­ward to the oppor­tu­ni­ty of mak­ing a dif­fer­ence in the lives of oth­ers and giv­ing back to the community.