Online and Distance Learning

What can you do with criminal justice online programs? What are the criminal justice careers and salaries options?

Are you interested in becoming a police officer, or a private detective or a private investigator? Or perhaps working for the United States government in security? If you are interested in working in the field of law enforcement or a related area, then one of the criminal justice online programs may be the right one for the criminal justice positions you had in mind.

Criminal justice is the law enforcement system that deals with the apprehension, prosecution, defense, sentencing and incarceration of those suspected or charged with committing a crime. The criminal justice system consists of three main agencies: (1) law enforcement (police); (2) adjudication (courts); and (3) corrections (jails, prisons, probation and parole).  So studying criminal justice online programs can offer a range of jobs in any of these agencies, e.g., as a drug enforcement officer, police officer, sheriff, probation officer, substance abuse counselor, and even in forensic accounting.  Criminal justice can be studied online at all levels, certificate to PhD.

Finding criminal justice online programs

Below are listed some recommended schools and programs.  You can also use the search box to find suitable criminal justice online programs.

• Capella University - Online
  • BS Public Safety - Criminal Justice
  • MS Public Safety - Criminal Justice
  • PhD Public Safety - Criminal Justice

• Walden University
  • C.P.A./Homeland Security Policy & Coordination
  • C.P.A./Public Safety Management
  • C.P.A./Criminal Justice
  • Ph.D. in Human Services/Criminal Justice
  • Ph.D. in Public Policy & Admin.

• American Intercontinental University (AIU)
  • A.A.B.A. in Criminal Justice Admin.
  • B.S. in Criminal Justice
    • Special Populations
    • Forensic Science
    • Law Enforcement

• Kaplan University Online
  • A.A.B.A. in Criminal Justice
  • A.A.B.A. in Paralegal Studies
  • B.S. in Criminal Justice
  • B.S. in Criminal Justice/Corrections
  • B.S. in Criminal Justice/Forensic Psychology
  • B.S. in Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement

• Strayer University Online
  • Associates of Arts in Criminal Justice
  • BS Criminal Justice
    • Computer Security and Forensics
    • Criminal Justice Administration
    • Homeland Security and Emergency Management
    • Homeland Security Technology

• South University
  • B.S. in Criminal Justice
  • M.S. in Criminal Justice

• Ashford University
  • B.A. in Org. Mgmt./Public Safety Administration
  • B.A. in Social and Criminal Justice

Schools in Canada

Click here for a page that links to campus universities and campus colleges in Canada. It also provides some advice on choosing a suitable campus.

Click here and then enter your Canadian postal code to search for Canadian college or university campuses.

What do you study in the programs?

Online criminal justice courses that you may be required to take in a criminal justice online programs might include: criminal justice systems; criminology; computer crime (cyber crime); corporate and white collar crime; correctional facilities; domestic violence; drug trade and trafficking; ethics; forensic psychology; jurisprudence and juvenile corrections; legal rights of offenders; mediation, dispute management, and negotiation training; police department organization; public and private safety; technology in criminal justice; terrorism and counter-terrorism.

What jobs do graduates get?

The demand for qualified and efficient personnel in the field of criminal justice is on the rise. Depending on the level of their experience, graduates of criminal justice online programs will be eligible for a jobs in:

• state and local government agencies as local law enforcement officers, state troopers, SBI agents, arson specialists and fingerprinting specialists;
• military and defense agencies as military police officers and investigators;
• federal agencies like the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms), DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency), CIA, FBI, the Secret Service, Customs, and the Border Patrol;
• the corrections department as wardens, corrections, parole, and probation officers;
• criminology as criminologists, crime scene investigators, and forensic scientists;
• white-collar crime detection and prevention (including cyber crime);
• the private sector as detectives, investigators and security specialists;
• the legal profession as legal assistants and secretaries, paralegals, court administrators.  Criminal justice degrees can also be good to lead into the law degree that is necessary to work as lawyers, judges, and magistrates;
• colleges and universities as lecturers and professors - a criminal justice online masters degree or even an online criminal justice PhD is necessary for a lecturing job in a university or college.

What salaries do graduates of criminal justice online programs get?

Criminal justice careers salaries vary widely according to the agency and job, e.g., from a corrections officers with a median salary of $36,000, through a police patrol officer with a salary of $46,000, to an FBI agent with a median salary of $88,000.  The income levels of criminal justice professionals according PayScale.com are shown in the tables in the right column.

For more information

You can also use this link to Search for Schools and Programs

If you don't find what you want here, try using the search facility on this site with criminal justice online programs as your search term.

You also use this link to search for online degree programs.

Remember to compare the admission requirements and course content of several schools before you choose a program.

Campus Programs

For those students who feel that online learning and distance education is not for them, the web site also has a section on campus programs. 

You can also search for programs or top criminal justice schools near you.