2024 Best Accredited Online Colleges for Criminal Justice

CRIMINAL JUSTICE DEGREES

UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES

Criminal justice is an incredibly in-demand college major. Each major confers around 6,000 bachelor's degrees per annum; last year, 55,297 students completed a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, making it the United States' 8th most popular major for undergraduates. 1,701 of those students are now alumni of CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice, which has the biggest program in the US, and 4,932 of those degrees were granted at institutions in California.

Undergrad degrees in criminal justice are available at 1,005 schools nationwide; therefore, determining the best program can be hard. In comparison to the average course of study, there are 5.2 times as many colleges offering undergraduate degrees in criminal justice, making it the 16th most commonly available American degree.

GRADUATE DEGREES

While last spring, a shade greater than 6 out of 7 degrees in criminal justice were undergrad degrees; 13% were graduate degrees. Criminal justice is the 29th most popular advanced degree in the country, with 7,966 degrees awarded. To put that in context, grad degrees in criminal justice are 2.9 times more popular among master's & doctor's students than the average major.

In Total, 63,263 students received a bachelor's or higher in criminal justice last year.

ONLINE CRIMINAL JUSTICE DEGREES

13,292 of those 63,263 students (21%) did all their school work comprehensively online - 9,823 undergrads and 3,469 graduate students. As you likely can tell, criminal justice is a hugely in-demand online college field. It's currently the 3rd most popular remote degree with 20.4 times the national average of 481 undergrads per subject. For master's or doctor's students, it ranks 15th, with 5.6 times the average number of master's or doctor's students per concentration (481).

The University of Phoenix-Arizona​ conferred more online undergraduate degrees in criminal justice than any other American school (950). Last fall, 72,003 college students were attending the college online, 99% of their students. They offer 38 remote focuses. That's 100% of their subjects.

Moreover, Colleges from Arizona conferred the most online undergrad degrees in criminal justice last May (1,629). Arizona alone graduates 17% of the discipline's online students.

17.8% of all four-year degrees in criminal justice are completed through an entirely online program, (43.5% for graduate degrees). 38.12% of Union Institute & University's​ last undergraduate class studied criminal justice exclusively remote, higher than any other US college. 154 students in their 403 student class received an online four-year degree in criminal justice. They offer 100% of their subjects online, and had 507 enrolled online college students last fall. That's 84% of the student body.

Undergrad degrees in criminal justice are offered online at 347 institutions in the nation, making it the 16th most commonly offered remote subject in the USA. 35% of colleges furnishing the degree even have an online option, and 34% of the colleges granting the degree remotely are public. The other 66% are private. Florida is number one in the nation in providing remote choices, with 21 of the programs based there.

If you hope to study criminal justice entirely online, you may want to consider George Washington University, as it has the 5th best criminal justice program in the nation. They also offer an additional 116 degrees completely remotely, so their systems are probably dependable. Furthermore, there are 721 remote undergrads attending, which is 6% of the entire student body.

PARTIALLY ONLINE CRIMINAL JUSTICE DEGREES

• 14,291 students last year completed undergraduate degrees in criminal justice partially online
• Criminal justice is the 24th most universally available partially online undergrad degree around the country
• 25.84% of all undergraduate degree in criminal justice are completed partially online
• CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice​ granted the most partially online bachelor's degrees in criminal justice in the country (516)
• 9 of the colleges offering partially online undergrad degrees in criminal justice are located in Kansas, the most of any state
• The average partially online concentration confers 1,683 yearly bachelor's degrees or higher

IN-PERSON CRIMINAL JUSTICE DEGREES

• Criminal justice is the 15th most common in-person college degree in America
• Exclusively in-person bachelor's degrees in criminal justice are offered at 38 institutions across the country
• Last year, 34,582 students received a bachelor's or higher in criminal justice entirely in-person
• CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice​ conferred the most totally in-person four-year degrees in criminal justice in the United States (1,185)
• Last spring, 3,629 students completed grad degrees in criminal justice entirely in-person
• The average in-person focus gives out 6,102 annual bachelor's degrees or higher

CRIMINAL JUSTICE OVERVIEW

Thanks to technology and online schools, you can earn a criminal justice degree from the comfort of your home. These virtual programs provide accelerated schedules and prepare you for various roles in law enforcement.

You can foster a fulfilling and lucrative career in criminal justice in any of these fields:

• Police Officer
• Attorneys and Lawyers
• Probation Officers
• Security Managers
• FBI Specialists
• CIA Agents or Analysts
• Criminologists
• Financial Examiners
• Judges and Hearing Officers

Online accredited colleges offer various criminal justice programs that prepare you to enter into any of these lucrative fields. Due to the steady increase in criminal cases, fraud, and cybercrime, the demand for professionals in these fields continue to rise.

Conciliators, arbitrators, and mediators enjoy the highest job growth rates in criminal justice roles. And unlike lawyers and judges, you only need a bachelor’s degree and moderate training.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, police detectives and probation officers are some of the highest-paid entry-level jobs in criminal justice. They earn about $60,000 to $80,000 yearly.

Some of the top-paid criminal justice jobs, like attorneys and judges, exceed $250,000 in yearly wages. These roles also have attractive benefits and annual bonuses.

Here are other reasons why a criminal justice degree from a high-ranking online school might be good for you:

• A chance to serve your community
• Job stability and impressive benefits
• You get to protect and help others
• A criminal justice degree opens up more career opportunities
• You can flex your analytical and problem-solving skills

Keep reading to discover the best online accredited schools to study criminal justice programs.