Criminal Justice (AS)

What is A Criminal Justice (AS) Degree?

Criminal Justice involves everything connected to the legal system—how laws are applied and how criminals are brought to justice.  This is different from Criminology which is a behavioral science, a subset of Sociology, and an academic field that looks at crimes and how people react to them. Criminal Justice is a more hands-on, skilled-based field that is focused on the whole law enforcement system: how laws are enforced and how criminals are rehabilitated.

In a degree program in Criminal Justice you’ll study things like sociology, psychology, criminology, and forensic science.  You develop practical skills like those for collecting and cataloging evidence, investigating crimes, and meeting ethical and practice standards.  You may be able to specialize in applications like police operations, private security, or corrections.  Some programs may even include the prescribed police academy course for police officers so that you’ll be ready to work in an officer position immediately after graduation.