Top-ranked Criminal Justice College Degrees

In 2009, U.S. News & World Report surveyed the nation's criminal justice university programs and measured each one using a number of diagnostic criteria.

This article presents the top three criminal justice college degree programs, and offers additional choices for students to consider.
Criminal Justice – University of Maryland

The University of Maryland was ranked as having the top graduate criminology and criminal justice university program in the country by U.S. News & World Report.

Maryland's Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice offers a bachelor program in addition to its graduate and post-graduate offering, which include:

* Traditional Master of Arts in Criminal Justice – students are required to take a minimum of 30 credit-hours of specialized courses, including six hours dedicated to the production of a graduate thesis. While the program typically takes two years to complete, students may not extend the degree for longer than five years;
* Professional Master of Arts in Criminal Justice – this research-based degree, offered both in College Park, Maryland and in China, is geared toward training students for management and agency positions rather than hands-on investigative work. As with the traditional degree, it is 30 credit-hours.
* PhD in Criminology and Criminal Justice – this program is only available to those who have earned a graduate criminal justice degree.

For more information on criminal justice degree programs and tuition rates, contact UM at (301) 405- 4699.
Criminal Justice College – University at Albany (SUNY)

University at Albany, ranked as one of the top three criminal justice programs by U.S. News & World Report, offers a bachelor degree program in addition to its graduate and PhD offerings.

Students in the Master of Arts in Criminal Justice program focus on information technology models, learning how to efficiently manipulate data, in addition to traditional theory courses. The School of Criminal Justice has working partnerships with the New York City Police Department, New York State Police, and the Japanese National Police which students are able to take advantage of.

Students in this criminal justice college program are required to complete 30 credit-hours, which include theory and statistics courses, and must pass a comprehensive exam to graduate.

For more information on the graduate program, or for details on either the bachelor or PhD criminal justice degree programs, contact Albany at (518) 442 - 5212.
Criminal Justice College Degree – University of Cincinnati

UC's School of Criminal Justice, ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top three in the United States, offers both undergraduate and graduate criminal justice college degree programs, including a traditional and online graduate program.

In both the traditional and online programs, students are required to take between 45 and 48 credit-hours, which can be completed either part-time or full-time. Students in the online criminal justice university program are able to complete it fully online via an asynchronous class schedule, which allows students to log in and learn whenever they choose.

For students studying part-time, the program can be completed in two years, which those studying full time can often complete it in a single year.

For additional information on admissions and tuition, contact UC at 1-800-645-5078.
Additional Ranked Criminal Justice Programs

Below is a listing of the top fifteen criminal justice university programs as ranked by U.S. News & World Report in 2009:

* University of Maryland
* University at Albany (SUNY)
* University of Cincinnati
* University of Missouri, St. Louis
* Penn State University
* University of California, Irvine
* Florida State University
* Michigan State University
* Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (Newark)
* CUNY, John Jay College
* Temple University
* Arizona State University
* Northeastern University
* University of Florida
* University of Pennsylvania

The above schools offer some of the finest undergraduate and graduate criminology and criminal justice programs in the United States, and are good first options for students to consider.
Considering a Criminal Justice University Program

Students interested in a criminal justice degree are encouraged to shop around and find the program which is the best educational fit, considering financial, geographic, and academic factors.

Read More at: http://americanuniversities.suite101.com/article.cfm/top-ranked-criminal-justice-college-degrees