Study Criminal Justice in Pennsylvania

Criminal justice is one of the most popular college majors – and for good reason. A bachelor’s degree in this field opens many doors for careers in legal, correctional, and law enforcement settings. A master’s degree gives you even more options, including jobs with more responsibilities and higher pay.

You can pursue your criminal justice education at any number of colleges and universities in Pennsylvania. And because so many schools offer online learning, you can do so without setting foot on campus. So, whether you live in Pennsylvania or not, the popular online criminal justice programs discussed in this guide are available to help you prepare for your desired career.

Best Accredited Online Criminal Justice Degrees in Pennsylvania - Criminal Justice Bachelor's, Master's and Associate's Programs in PA

Online Criminal Justice Degrees in Pennsylvania

Listed below are some of the popular schools offering online criminal justice degrees in Pennsylvania:

  • Penn State University World Campus
  • Drexel University
  • Pierce College
  • Shippensburg University
  • PennWest University
  • Southern New Hampshire University
  • Liberty University
  • UMass Global
  • Grand Canyon University
  • Maryville University

Penn State University World Campus

Online Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice

The Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Penn State’s World Campus is a 120-credit program requiring about four years of full-time study to complete. However, since this is a work-at-your-own-pace program, you can take more classes each semester to finish early or complete your coursework on a part-time basis to accommodate your busy life schedule.

Either way, you’ll gain essential criminal justice skills, such as:

  • The ability to solve complex criminal justice-related problems.
  • The ability to analyze criminal behavior.
  • The ability to evaluate crime control measures for efficacy.
  • The ability to articulate the legal foundations of the criminal justice system.
  • The ability to critically examine criminal justice research.

You’ll gain these and other skills in a curriculum focusing on several content areas. First, you must complete general education classes in areas like writing and speaking, quantification, and natural sciences. Penn State also requires you to take introductory courses in the arts and humanities, social and behavioral sciences, and health and wellness, to name a few more.

The criminal justice portion of the curriculum starts with 24 credits of prescribed courses. Think of these classes as the foundation of your studies; they include broad examinations of topics central to this field, just as Introduction to Criminal Justice, Criminology, and Policing in America.

You’ll also take prescribed courses focusing on Courts and the Prosecution Process, Corrections in America, and Ethics in Criminal Justice. This program further requires you to take research-oriented classes, including a statistics course, which helps you understand how to collect, analyze, and report on important criminal justice-related data.

Another 12 credits of criminal justice coursework are required in special concentrations in this field, including Public and Private Policing, Diversity in Criminal Justice, and Special Populations and the Law. Each area offers three or four courses; you can take all the courses in one area and or you can mix and match courses from each of these three areas.

For example, let’s assume you’re interested in diversity issues in this field. That being the case, you might take the following classes:

  • Race, Ethnicity, and Culture
  • Border Security
  • Race, Crime, and Justice
  • Criminal Law and Procedure

Now let’s assume you’re more interested in administrative issues in criminal justice. That being the case, your four courses might include the following:

  • Police Administration
  • Border Security
  • Alternatives to Incarceration
  • The Juvenile Justice System

Elective coursework rounds out the requirements for this degree. Penn State offers electives in a variety of criminal justice areas so you can tailor your learning to your interests. For example, you might focus on security management, homeland security, or child welfare, just to name a few.

Likewise, Penn State offers the opportunity to earn credit for police training. The university may accept up to 16.5 credits from ACT 120, Municipal Police Training, or Pennsylvania State Police training and apply them to fulfill the following courses:

  • Introduction to Criminal Justice
  • Courts and the Prosecution Process
  • Policing in America
  • Interpersonal Communication
  • Physical Conditioning
  • First Aid and CPR

The requirements for admission are as follows:

  • Have a high school diploma or its equivalent.
  • Submit high school or GED transcripts.
  • Submit official transcripts from every college or university you’ve attended.
  • Provide English proficiency scores (if English is not your native language).

Drexel University

Online Bachelor of Science in Criminology and Justice Studies

Drexel University’s online Bachelor of Science in Criminology and Justice Studies is a work-at-your-own-pace program designed specifically for part-time students. In fact, this program is only available on a part-time basis. As such, you’ll need five or more years to finish your studies.

Another unique feature of this program is its broad focus. Where many criminal justice programs mostly address police sciences, this one expands your studies into criminology, criminal justice administration, the history of criminal justice, and criminal justice policy. Likewise, your coursework draw from a wide range of other disciplines, including the following:

  • Sociology
  • Psychology
  • Legal Studies
  • Political Science
  • Information Science and Computer Technology
  • Bioscience and Biotechnology

More specifically, the degree requirements for this program include courses in six areas, the first being basic university requirements. Drexel requires you to take classes in English Composition, Career Management, and Civic Engagement, to satisfy this portion of the curriculum.

Then, you’ll move into the core curriculum for the College of Arts and Sciences. This is similar to the general education requirements described earlier – you’ll take classes in math, philosophy, natural science, diversity, and human behavior, among others.

The criminal justice core requirements include mostly lower-division studies. You’ll take basic courses like Introduction to Criminal Justice, Criminology, and Crime and the City. These classes are supplemented by upper-division courses in Crime and Public Policy, Comparative Justice Systems, and Sentencing.

This program also requires you to complete a Methods and Analytics sequence focusing specifically on criminal justice research. For example, you’ll take a three-part course on Research Methods and Analytics focusing on areas like criminal justice research design, including sampling, units of measurement, and modes of observation.

You’ll also take a two-part course in Crime Mapping Using Geographic Information Systems, in which you explore place-based theories of criminology as a means of understanding why crime events usually occur in time and place-based clusters. These classes require you to analyze and interpret geospatial data to create maps illustrating these place-based criminological theories.

A five-course thematic sequence is additionally required for this degree. These courses focus on specific applications of criminal justice, such as:

  • Police and Society
  • Crime Prevention Planning
  • Introduction to Computer Crime
  • Communities and Crime
  • Juvenile Justice

The final 70 quarter credits in this program are electives. You must complete at least 24 criminal justice elective credits and 46 free electives, which you can choose from any undergraduate field of study.

By completing this degree program, you’ll have the knowledge and skills necessary to pursue entry-level careers in criminal justice, such as a law enforcement or corrections officer. You’ll also have a solid educational foundation for pursuing a higher degree, such as a master’s in criminal justice. Many pre-law students also use criminal justice degrees to ready themselves for law school.

You can apply for admission to Drexel University online. You must meet the following requirements to do so:

  • Have a high school diploma or GED.
  • Submit official high school or GED transcripts.
  • Submit official transcripts from every college or university you’ve attended.
  • Submit a personal essay in which you discuss who you are, what your goals are, and how studying at Drexel can help you achieve those goals.

International students must also provide evidence of English language proficiency.

Pierce College

Online Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Studies

Pierce College’s online Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Studies is a 121-credit program focusing on broad criminal justice concepts, like the legal system, corrections in America, and policing techniques. However, the program goes beyond that with studies that help you develop essential critical thinking, analytical, and problem-solving skills necessary for competent practice in criminal justice professions.

An advantage of enrolling in this program is that Pierce College makes it easy to reduce the cost of the degree. On the one hand, you can earn up to 22 credits at no cost by completing the required three-week undergraduate orientation class. This, in turn, allows you to pursue courses and certificates through the college’s partnership with Coursera. For example, you might earn a Google Career Certificate or the Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate.

On the other hand, Pierce College has a generous transfer policy. In fact, you can transfer up to 90 of the 121 credits needed to graduate. Likewise, as many as 57 of your credits can apply toward Philadelphia Police Academy training, while 27 credits can apply toward Philadelphia Division of Prisons training.

As in any undergraduate program, you will spend the first couple of years of your studies completing general education coursework. Pierce College requires you to take classes such as:

  • Introduction to Ethics
  • English Composition
  • Speech Communication
  • Practical Reasoning
  • Application Software Fundamentals

You must also take at least one humanities or history course, two math courses, two sciences courses, and two social science classes.

The criminal justice program requirements follow the same general mode as the programs described earlier. You’ll begin with very basic introductory studies in areas like Introduction to Criminal Justice, the Criminal Court System, and Criminal Law. Additional lower-division classes are required in Ethics, the Correctional System, Criminology, and Juvenile Justice.

The upper-division coursework you’re required to complete explores more specific areas of criminal justice. For example, you’ll gain an appreciation for the intricacies of legal processes in a course entitled Advanced Criminal Law and Procedures. Likewise, you’ll develop an understanding of the victim’s perspective of crime in a class called Victims and Victimization.

Your studies in criminal justice extend into research applications, too. You’ll take a research methods course that helps you understand how to analyze criminology data, interpret it, and use it to make informed decisions about policing, corrections, and other critical applications in the criminal justice field. Combined with the required classes discussed above, you’ll have a much better understanding of how to use data to make the criminal justice system work more efficiently and equitably.

Pierce College offers a Human Services Leadership track that you can apply to the 42 credits of electives required for this degree. This track focuses specifically on building essential skills in human services, such as leadership, counseling, cultural awareness, and human services delivery.

You must complete the following steps to be considered for admission:

  • Complete high school or its equivalent.
  • Provide official high school transcripts or a copy of your official GED or state equivalency scores.
  • Submit official transcripts from every college or university you’ve attended.
  • Submit a writing sample and complete a math inventory (if you haven’t already earned a C or above in college-level math and English classes).

Shippensburg University

Online Master of Science in Criminal Justice

The Master of Science in Criminal Justice from Shippensburg University is tailor-made for students like you who want to get a master’s degree but need a flexible format to do so. Not only is this program available 100 percent online, but it also only requires the completion of 33 credits. You’ll need just one year of full-time studies to finish the degree requirements. Alternatively, you can pursue this degree part-time and get your degree in two years.

Generally speaking, this degree focuses on issues related to crime prevention, crime control, and criminal justice theory. You’ll gain insights into criminal justice policy, research, and analysis, too. More specifically, your coursework explores detailed aspects of criminology.

For example, one of the first courses you’ll take is Advanced Criminological Theory. This class looks at the origins of criminal behavior from a sociological, psychological, and economic standpoint. You’ll examine patterns of criminal behavior, the consequences of delinquency, and more.

Another early course you’ll take is Legal Trends and Issues. This class examines current topics in law and explores how they influence the operation of the criminal justice system. This class aligns with Leadership in Criminal Justice, a course that analyzes the special management issues that often arise in the criminal justice system and the many different factors that give rise to strong leadership.

Other coursework explores the research component of criminal justice studies. For example, you’ll complete a course in Advanced Research Methods that explores the application of research in the criminal justice field. More specifically, you’ll learn about the following:

  • Research Design
  • Research Ethics
  • Theories of Sampling
  • Data Collection Strategies
  • Research Analysis

Not only do these skills allow you to be a better academic researcher, but you’ll also be able to use these skills in the process of implementing evidence-based practices in a workplace setting.

You’ll further study criminal justice policy in a Seminar in Policy Analysis. This class offers insights into historical and current policies of criminal justice. You’ll learn how to evaluate different policies for effectiveness and analyze how specific policies improve (or don’t improve) each component of the criminal justice field, including law enforcement, the legal system, and the correctional system.

The two remaining components of this program are elective credits and a practicum experience. The 12 credits of electives you take must be chosen from an approved list of 11 classes. These classes explore a wide range of topics, from victimology to family violence to policing. Other options include mental illness, social justice, and juvenile justice.

Meanwhile, the practicum is a capstone experience during which you are required to review central issues in criminal justice. You’ll write a professional paper that explores a current issue in this field and use your training in criminal justice research and analysis to provide a thorough interpretation of that issue. This project serves as a capstone experience, and is completed during your final semester in the program.

The admissions requirements are as follows:

  • Have a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited university.
  • Have a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 2.75 or higher (you must take the GRE if you don’t meet this requirement).
  • Submit official transcripts from every college or university you’ve attended.
  • Provide a 500-word program statement in which you discuss your interest in pursuing this degree.

What are the Career Opportunities for Criminal Justice Graduates in Pennsylvania?

As a criminal justice graduate in Pennsylvania, you will find various career opportunities available to you. The state offers several paths where you can apply your education and skills effectively. One primary sector is law enforcement, where you can pursue roles such as a police officer or detective, focusing on public safety and criminal investigations. Additionally, you might consider working in corrections as a correctional officer or a probation officer, where you’ll oversee individuals who are incarcerated or on probation.

The legal field also presents several opportunities, including positions as a paralegal or legal assistant. These roles involve supporting lawyers by conducting research, organizing case files, and preparing legal documents. Working within the court system as a court clerk or bailiff is another option, where you’ll assist in the smooth operation of judicial proceedings.

Social services provide another pathway, with careers such as social worker or case manager, where you can help individuals and families navigate challenges within the criminal justice system. In the private sector, positions in private security or loss prevention allow you to protect businesses and organizations from theft and other crimes.

Moreover, with further education and training, you can aim for roles in federal agencies such as the FBI, DEA, or Homeland Security, engaging in national security and specialized criminal investigations.

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