Overview

This associate degree program in Criminal Justice, offered by the American Public University System is designed to help you develop new skills necessary for a career in law enforcement or criminal justice, or to enhance your knowledge gained on the job if you are already employed as a law enforcement officer, investigator, agent, criminologist, or in other law-enforcement related fields.

Our criminal justice programs are among the most popular at the university, bringing you peer interactions and an expanded network of criminal justice professionals who are dedicated to safeguarding their communities and nation. Courses in this program are taught by highly credentialed and experienced instructors, many who hold key positions in government agencies or criminal justice organizations.

Program Objectives

In addition to the institutional and degree level learning objectives, graduates of this program are expected to achieve these learning outcomes:

• Examine historical, philosophical, and constitutional perspectives/limitations of law enforcement.

• Describe the collection and preservation of evidence in basic crime scene investigations.

• Identify the origins of modern terrorism, its impact on society, and the impact of cross-cultural communication.

• Differentiate the criminological, sociological, legal, and political influences on the American criminal justice system.

• Restate theories of juvenile delinquency.