What kinds of jobs can I hold with a degree?

After you earn your education through criminal justice certification or a degree program, you will begin your search for criminal justice jobs. There is a wide variety of careers that you may qualify for, depending on the level of education that you have attained. Of course, there will be more careers for majors who have earned bachelor’s or master’s degrees than there will be for someone who has less education, like a certificate or a criminal justice associate degree online.

As you think about different jobs for criminal justice majors, you should also consider whether you want to find jobs right away or pursue further education. Most students who earn degrees in this field do not immediately pursue careers. Instead, they eventually continue their education by earning graduate degrees in related fields. For that reason, the list of criminal justice degree jobs below includes careers with a degree and jobs that you can get with some additional education.

Police Officer

Police officers are among the jobs with a criminal justice degree that students think of most frequently because of their visibility in the community. Police officers regularly patrol certain areas and respond to emergency calls for help from citizens. They investigate suspicious activity and arrest criminal suspects. Some police officers specialize in specific types of criminal cases like narcotics, fraud or homicide.

To become a police officer, you must complete 6 months of intense training at a police academy. And though it is not required, it is recommended that you complete your associates degree, which takes about 2 years. Once they have gained some experience, police usually make about $53,500 per year working for local, county and state police departments.

Federal Special Agent

Federal agents investigate more serious offenses than the regular police, like organized crime, unsolved murders, drug trafficking and national security threats. Special agents collect evidence for lab analysis during their investigations and provide expert testimony in court.

To become a federal special agent, you need a 4-year bachelors degree and 2 to 3 years of experience in law enforcement. There are several agencies you could work for, including the CIA, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. Therefore, your pay can vary according to your workplace, but you can expect a base salary of at least $43,440, which will increase over time as you gain experience.

Correctional Treatment Specialist

A correctional treatment specialist has a highly specialized criminal justice career that involves working with convicted criminal offenders in jails and prisons on a one-one-one basis. Treatment specialists evaluate individuals to assess whether they are ready to rejoin society without risk of committing more crimes. They also help former inmates adjust to society by providing them with job training, counseling and education.

The minimum amount of education required in this career is a bachelors degree, which takes 4 years. You can earn about $47,200 in this job.

Paralegal

Another career in criminal justice is a paralegal. These criminal justice professionals, who are also known as legal assistants, help lawyers and attorneys to prepare for their cases. They also perform administrative duties like taking notes at meetings, preparing legal documents, interviewing clients and filing documents. But although they perform some of the same functions as attorneys, they cannot offer legal advice to clients.

There are many ways to prepare for a paralegal career. The shortest route is a certificate, which takes about a year. But you can also earn associates degrees, which take 2 years, or bachelors degrees, which take 4 years. You can expect to make an average paralegal salary of about $46,700 while working at law firms or in the legal department of corporate businesses.

Attorney/Lawyer

Attorneys play a central role in the criminal justice system. They are responsible for prosecuting and defending suspected criminals in court and working on their behalf to negotiate plea bargains to avoid going to trial. In order to create arguments for prosecution or defense, they research legal issues to develop persuasive statements.

You have a long educational road ahead if you want to be an attorney. You will have to earn a bachelors degree and graduate from law school, which will take 7 to 8 years altogether. Attorneys also need to pass state bar exams before they can legally practice law. But all of this work tends to pay off, because you can earn an average salary of $112,800 in this position. As an attorney, you can work for the government or for private law firms.

How hard is it to gain admission to a criminal justice college?

Many students tend to feel anxious before applying to an accredited college. If you are applying to an university for the first time, you should know that there are different admissions requirements for various degree levels. Remember that you can earn certificates, associates degrees, bachelors degrees, masters degrees and doctoral degrees in this field. So even though it is fairly difficult to gain admission to graduate school at a university for criminal justice, you will find that it is far easier to get into the best universities at the undergraduate level if you apply to a community college or a 4-year university.

What should I know about applying to a certificate program?

Certificates in this field are offered at 2 levels. Therefore, the requirements for admission to certificate programs depend on whether you are applying to an undergraduate or a graduate program. It is easier to get into an undergraduate certificate program because there are fewer admissions requirements. Although you do need to have a high school diploma or GED, you do not need any previous college experience. You will simply need to send in copies of your transcripts along with your application.

However, the requirements are a little stricter for a graduate certificate. To enroll in a graduate certificate program, you need to have a bachelors degree. Although your degree does not necessarily have to be in criminal justice, it must be from an accredited school.

What about applying to a criminal justice associates degree program?

Associates degree programs at a traditional or online college have approximately the same admissions requirements as undergraduate certificates. That is, you do not need to have a degree, but you need to send in proof of your high school diploma or GED along with copies of your transcripts when you apply. Your application may also be improved by 1 or 2 letters of recommendation from your teachers, though not all colleges require these.

What do I need to apply to a criminal justice bachelor’s degree program?

Bachelors degree programs have somewhat more difficult requirements for applicants. Although you do not need to earn a degree before you apply, you can apply with an associates degree and transfer your credits over. Generally, universities want students who have demonstrated an interest in the subject through their high school coursework or extracurricular experiences. Therefore, you should highlight any work or volunteer experience you may have. Like associates degrees, you will need to send in copies of your high school diploma or GED along with your transcripts when you apply to a bachelors degree program. Finally, nearly all top colleges for criminal justice require students to submit 2 to 3 letters of recommendation along with their applications.

How hard is it to get into a graduate program in criminal justice?

Graduate programs as a whole have more rigorous standards for admission than undergraduate programs. Therefore, students who are applying to masters programs must hold a bachelors degree. Although your degree can be in a subject other than criminal justice, you will have a better chance of admission if it is in a related field, like psychology or sociology.

Finally, it is usually quite difficult to gain admission to a doctoral program. PhD programs prefer applicants who have several years of work experience in criminal justice or a related field, like psychology, sociology or criminology. Although most PhD programs do not require applicants to have a masters degree, your application will benefit from research experience in any of these fields.

Is it easier to get into an online school to study criminal justice?

Accredited online colleges have the same admissions requirements as brick-and-mortar schools. Therefore, you should not expect the admissions process to be any easier if you want to earn an online criminal justice degree. However, the applications process may be a bit faster for online criminal justice programs because you can often apply and submit your documents online instantly rather than wait for paper applications to be received in the mail.

If I’m not sure I want to get a degree in criminal justice, what are some other programs I could apply to?

If you decide not to get a criminal justice degree, you may want to consider studying criminology. Criminology is most commonly offered at the graduate level, so this is a good option if you studied criminal justice as an undergraduate. Although criminology is also concerned with crime prevention, it focuses on crime as a social problem. Criminologists seek to isolate the causes of crime as they examine the effects it has on society.

Depending on your interests, you could also consider earning a law degree if you are not sure that criminal justice is the right fit for you. However, like degrees in criminology, law degrees require you to have already earned a bachelors degree.

At the bachelors level, sociology may be a good field to pursue since you will have the chance to study human behavior and social problems, which is part of the curriculum of bachelors degree programs.