Program Goals and Outcomes

Online criminal justice degree goals and outcomes

The online Criminal Justice Degree can prepare students to take the first steps toward a variety of entry-level careers in law enforcement or legal environments. Graduates can qualify for jobs like probation officer, police officer, and more. 

Criminal Justice

Bachelor's Degree 36-48 mo As low as $60/mo
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1-800-471-3232 (9AM - 9PM EST)

Program Goal

To prepare students for professional opportunities in the criminal justice field and for a wide array of entry-level positions in criminal justice, as well as to provide a foundation for graduate studies.

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to...

  • Demonstrate effective written and interpersonal communication skills
  • Demonstrate a high level of inquiry, analytical, and problem-solving skills
  • Demonstrate effective quantitative skills
  • Demonstrate computer and information literacy
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the liberal arts, natural sciences, and social sciences
  • Apply the procedures used to obtain, evaluate, and communicate information in a legal environment
  • Explain the typical levels of management and organizational components in the modern police organization and other major entities of the criminal justice system and different leadership styles and theories
  • Discuss the legal system in the United States, including the origins and history of the law, the development of common law, statutory law, constitutional law and how this affects the criminal justice system
  • Analyze the substantive and procedural operations of the criminal justice system with focus on the prosecutorial, judicial, and defense functions
  • Evaluate issues of justice, professionalism, and ethics within law enforcement and the courts
  • Examine the external and internal factors that control the dynamics of law enforcement from the police, prosecution, and defense perspectives as they apply to ethical, moral, and legal applications
  • Discuss the origins and development of the law of search and seizure on the federal and state levels, the ethical and legal issues surrounding the exclusionary rule as it impacts the
  • Fourth and Fifth Amendments, and the workings of an adversarial system of justice
  • Evaluate the relationship between victims and the criminal justice system and provide details of the interaction of victims with the police, prosecutors, court, and defense attorneys
  • Discuss the principles of criminal responsibility and the requirement of culpable mental states, the various defenses used to negate or to mitigate criminal liability, and the prevailing theories and philosophies for criminal punishment including restitution, retribution, and rehabilitation
  • Discuss and compare recognized biological, psychological, and sociological theories about the causes of criminal behavior and the types of criminal behavior and methods for predicting future crime.
  • Analyze the various methods and theories of policing, including reactive, proactive, problem-solving, community policing
  • Analyze theories of corrections, rehabilitation, and punishment and how they affect correctional management practices
  • Describe the juvenile court process, including the rights of juveniles, detention and its alternatives, and how juveniles are processed in adult criminal court
  • Analyze the different types of evidence, such as crime scene evidence, documentary evidence, witness testimony, and scientific evidence. Describe the admissibility requirements for the various forms of evidence as well as the attendant ethical and legal issues presented

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