There are many benefits to earning a criminal justice degree. One is that you can get a variety of jobs including police officer, public official, or criminal investigator. Some jobs may require more education or experience, but a criminal justice degree can help provide a rich base of knowledge that can prepare you for a well-paying and lengthy career in different sectors.

Another benefit is there is a continued need for criminal justice professionals to help ensure the safety of the nation's citizens.

A third benefit is there are nationwide opportunities, because every city and state has a need for experienced criminal justice professionals in a variety of roles.

To determine the best degree option, you must consider your ultimate career goals.

A homeland security-specific curriculum can provide dedicated coursework in national security, terrorism, and intelligence. 

However, our criminal justice curriculum contains many topics you may find in a homeland security curriculum, including criminology, corrections, evidence forensics, civil liability in public safety, criminal investigation, and much more. A degree in criminal justice can potentially translate to a wider variety of job opportunities as well as more pathways to advanced education in the future.

Herzing University’s Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice may be completed in as few as 32 months. Transfer up to 90 approved credits to get it done even faster. The associate degree path typically takes 20 months to complete.

With year-round learning and opportunity to transfer in prior college credit, Herzing University offers you the opportunity to start quickly and get your career moving.

Course subjects and topics in our bachelor’s degree program include:

• Criminal Investigation, which provides an overview of the investigative process and current issues.
• Criminal Law, which covers key components of criminal law and its enforcement. It also includes an overview of the criminal law process, defenses, and jurisdiction of the courts. 
• Ethics in Law Enforcement, which reviews public administration and ethical issues involved with public service.
• Evidence Forensics, which covers the law model and types and current rules of evidence acquisition.
• Crisis Intervention, which provides study in the methods and techniques employed by professionals in the field of crisis intervention.
• Risk Assessment, which helps students learn how to assess and identify threats, analyze targets, and implement approaches to risk assessment.

Criminology is the study of crime, including its causes, consequences and costs. Criminology students study the behavior patterns, backgrounds, and sociological trends of criminals.

Criminal justice is a social science that seeks to identify and explain criminal behavior, as well as how society deals with crime. Criminal justice majors focus more on the legal and correctional systems, the deterrence of crimes, and ethics codes of behavior. Students in a criminal justice program often study a variety of topics including legal studies, psychology, public administration, and sociology.

Though they are different, both criminologists and criminal justice professionals work in the criminal justice sector to lessen crime and improve society.

With an associate degree in criminal justice, you may be eligible for a variety of jobs, including security guards and first-line supervisors of protective service workers. These jobs are found in a variety of industries, including travel, gambling, and investigation and security services.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), security guards earned an average salary of $40,440 per year ($19.44 per hour).*

With a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, you can be eligible for jobs such as first-line supervisor of correctional officer, first-line supervisor, police officer, or detective. The BLS reports the average wage for detectives and criminal investigators is $95,930 per year ($46.12 per hour).

Yes, it's worth it!

Today, cybersecurity is more important now than ever before. There are large amounts of sensitive data online, including personally identifiable information (PII), protected health information (PHI), and intellectual property, all of which needs protecting.

In addition to potential high earnings and a strong projected job outlook, the field can also be personally rewarding because you can help protect important data belonging to people and organizations. The field is growing, with more and more doors opening up to great career opportunities.

If you enjoy IT, problem solving, and enjoy technical challenges, take the first step with Herzing University and start your new career.

Cybersecurity specialists develop and deploy the plans and software that keep data secure, private, sound, and accessible by the right people within a business or organization.

Information assurance professionals focus on the business more than the software. Instead of focusing on the design of the security, they focus more on determining what data to protect, to what extent, and whether the protections are effective. and whether the protections are effective.

People who look at cybersecurity programs may also be interested in different types of IT degrees, such as an information technology (IT) degree program. This degree can help prepare students to install, maintain, manage, repair and secure complex computer network systems. IT technicians support customers who are experiencing computer-related problems and troubleshoot components, hardware and software, including printers, scanners, email and work processes.

Students with a stronger interest in building applications or learning to code may prefer to explore our computer science degree program.

As with any skill, learning cybersecurity takes study, practice, and hard work. However, anyone who takes genuine interest in programming, how computer networks work, and security in the age of technology is capable of learning the fundamentals of cybersecurity.