Criminal Justice Associates Degree Online
A criminal justice associates degree online is one option for those considering an associate’s degree. An associate’s degree is designed to prepare you for an entry-level position. When you leave school and enter the work force, an associate’s degree will help you get your foot in the door. At that point, it is up to you to sell yourself. Entry-level positions in the criminal justice field can include positions as a guard in a correctional facility, a job as a police officer with a local law enforcement agency or a position as a paralegal.
Choosing to get a degree before entering the work force can be expensive. You can obtain a criminal justice associate’s degree online for a lot less money than a traditional classroom course and you can complete it at your own pace. If you want to finish the degree in short order, some schools even have accelerated programs that will get you out in under two years. All you need to do is sign up and get started.
Criminal Justice Associates Degree Requirements
Once you have selected an accredited online school, you will have a set curriculum for the first year. The classes taken during these first semesters are core classes to prepare you for the electives taken in the second year and to get your general education requirement out of the way. You should give a bit of thought to the electives that you select, as they should cover all the basics of the criminal justice system. You should also include a survey course that exposes you to the many areas of specialty within the criminal justice field.
After you have been exposed to the various specialties within the field, evaluate which of the fields attracts your interest the most. Record these areas and select a few classes to fill out your elective list that comes from your list of your interests.
Many schools also allow you to select a specialty to go along with your criminal justice online degree. You should select a specialty in the area you are most interested in. Once you have graduated, you will have a better chance of landing a job in that field due to your extra education in that area.
Criminal Justice Associates Salary
The beginning salary for a person with an Associate’s of Applied Science in Criminal Justice depends on the exact position you are hired into and on the type of area in which you work. Jobs in rural areas pay less than those based in a metropolitan area will.
The median salary for police officers, according to the Department of Labor, was $49,600 for the year 2007. The median pay for those in the corrections field such as guards and jailers is between $10,000 and $15,000 less per year than police officers make. Most jobs, whether as a police officer or a corrections officer, come with a health plan, a pension, and disability.
Criminal Justice Associates Career Advancement
Once you have finished and obtained your criminal justice degree online, you can begin to apply for jobs until you find your first position in the criminal justice field. When you have been at this position for a while, you may decide that you would prefer to work in a slightly different area that requires a Bachelor’s degree.
If you have an Associate’s in criminal justice, you are already half way to your bachelor’s. If you go back to school, you can finish off your Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice a mere two years. Often, you can even apply to the same school where you obtained your criminal justice associate’s degree online.
