Three Careers to Follow Online Education in Criminal Justice

By Joe Cooper
Career Colleges Columnist

Studying criminal justice online means qualifying yourself for future jobs. An online school can prepare students for a number of challenging careers in criminal justice, from protecting children from crime and poverty, to enforcing the justice system of entire communities. Here are just a few of the careers you can land once you’ve earned your degree.

Earn your Criminal Justice Degree Online

Earning an online education is a great way to advance along a career path, or begin a new one. If you have a passion for justice and a fascination for how it is enforced, you may be a good fit for an online degree program in criminal justice.

A number of online schools offer degree programs in criminal justice. Online schools provide flexible class schedules based on independent study, and can prepare you for a career in criminal justice after a 2-4 year degree program.

Careers in Criminal Justice

Here are just a few examples of career paths some students choose after earning a degree at an online school:

Social Worker
Studying the legal system is good preparation for social work. The background that an online school can provide students in criminal justice can be good preparation for working with children and families in need. It is also a good precursor to a Master’s degree in social work, too.
Sheriff
As a sheriff, the enforcement of criminal justice is a full-time job. Some sheriffs manage up to 50 policemen and women. After you earn your degree, and gain some experience on the police force, you can qualify for this challenging role.
Lawyer
Criminal justice is a popular undergraduate degree for future lawyers. Once you begin practicing, there is a variety of areas you can specialize in, including criminal law, to put your online degree in criminal justice to good use. (The median annual salary of all lawyers in the US was over $94,000 two years ago, too).

Sources
US Bureau of Labor Statistics - Lawyers
US Bureau of Labor Statistics – Sheriff – Police and Detectives

About the Author
Joe Cooper is a freelance education and technology writer and edits medical literature. He holds a bachelor's in American Literature from UCLA.

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