Chances for career advancement, increased financial compensation and leadership opportunities can be enhanced by earning a bachelor's degree
CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE CAREERS
If you are serious about seeking or advancing a career in law enforcement or a field related to our nation’s judicial system, you need to consider a degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice. If you are committed to becoming a leader in your chosen career, Portland State’s online Criminology and Criminal Justice program can help you improve your professional qualifications and achieve your dreams.
Increasingly, law enforcement agencies are requiring at least a bachelor’s degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice, as they seek to recruit and promote the most qualified officers, special agents, and investigators. Law enforcement today requires solid analytical and communications skills, cultural sensitivity, empathy, and comfort with advanced technology.
Portland State’s online program will help you develop each of these qualities. A bachelor of science degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice is a stepping-stone to a fulfilling career and gives you a competitive advantage in the working world.
Below you will find a general description of the different leadership, legal, law enforcement and related fields whose success is based on the principles of Criminology and Criminal Justice, directly or indirectly.
Your degree at Portland State University can get you started on the road or advance your existing career in any of these fields:
Outlook on Criminology and Criminal Justice Degrees
As society has grown more urban and complex, crime has evolved in creative ways, while the authorities have had to respond with even greater ingenuity.
Today’s law enforcement and justice officers often must confront clever, technologically-aided frauds, troubled teenagers and young adults, struggling immigrants negotiating the maze of a strange and complex society, and international terrorists wielding weapons of terrifying force. Well educated, technologically savvy officers can flourish in this new world.
Without a degree, many law and order officers could be restricted from advancing into leadership positions or investigative careers, overlooked for promotion because they lack sufficient education in their arsenal of skills.
Many agents in the U.S. Marshal Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Secret Service or the Department of Homeland Security hold a degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice, a valuable asset for entry into an elite law enforcement agency and advancement within it.
Public service is not the only area where a degree is required. At a time when corporate espionage, loss prevention, and personal security present significant threat levels, the private sector employs many people with degrees in Criminal Justice.
Criminology and Criminal Justice graduates have an increased chance of career advancement into supervisory and management positions, since this degree program trains them to understand and apply their knowledge in strategic situations.