Saturday, March 6, 2010

Criminal Justice Degrees – A Look at Some of the Degrees in the Offering


The opportunities for criminal justice degree holders are aplenty in the recent times. Their opportunities extend from the police force to the lawyer profession to the investigators to security advisors. Criminal justice is a matter that needs to be understood by working professionals in various fields. For instance, the police officers are trained on criminal justice specifically prior to them being trained on the other aspects of policing.


Post the 9/11 incident the requirements for criminal justice degree holders has sky rocketed. As discussed previously knowledge on criminal justice is a must for professionals handling various portfolios. The lawyer involved in defending or prosecuting an accused who is part of a crime, an investigator conducting a crime scene investigation, to a cyber crime professional tracking a hacker, or a FBI agent, etc. everyone has to have a ground understanding of criminal justice.

A degree in criminal justice would bestow upon the student pursuing the same with knowledge on understanding the behavior of criminals. The word justice is included in the criminal justice system, since; every individual is entitled to a fair trial. While the victim of a crime would seek retribution in the jailing of the accused, the accused should have an access to a fair trial and hence the punishment meted out and hence the laws applied too should be a fair one.

Various professionals are trained to various capacities on matters of criminal justice. The police officers are merely trained and certified on criminal justice, since they need to have an understanding of criminal behavior. Lawyers need to possess and in-depth knowledge on matters of criminal justice and hence the associated laws and hence they would choose to major on the subject by taking up a four-year degree program.

Various colleges and universities have been offering both online and regular programs on criminal justice. Liberty University that is accredited to the SACS offer both associate’s degree and bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. University of Phoenix has numerous criminal justice degrees to choose from.

This university happens to be the nation’s largest private university, it provides various types of programs on criminal justice including the Associate of Arts in Criminal Justice, BS in Organizational Security Management, BS in Crime Justice, MS in Administration of Justice and Security, and so on.

Kaplan University too provides excellent programs that lead to a degree in criminal justice. The University is considered top notch amongst the respected ones in the nation and provides a number of criminal justice programs including AAS in CJ, BS in CJ, MS in Criminal Justice or Global Issue in Criminal Justice, and so on.

Virginia College is also reputed for the number Criminal Justice Degree programs and the college is accredited by the ACICS. The college provides numerous online degree courses including the associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree and the master’s degree. The numerous of its programs include the Associate’s degree in Criminal Justice, Master’s degree in Criminal Justice, Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice, Master’s in Cyber Security, and Paralegal Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice.