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What should I look for in picking an online criminal justice school?
By Jim Greenberg
Whether your current aim is to start a career in the realm of criminal justice or to forge ahead in your chosen field by equipping yourself with a higher degree; you know that today all major universities and colleges offer programs and degrees online.
The advantages of studying online are sundry and most of you are well aware of these. However, all the universities seem to offer these basic advantages, in their online programs. On what basis then should you compare the different online schools and programs? Some of these are listed below:
1. Accreditation:
It is most essential that the program you are looking at, is from an accredited college or university.
2. Course content & courseware:
Make sure that the degree you are looking at has more courses with prefixes that indicate criminal justice coursework rather than having more courses that have prefixes that are clearly not indicative of criminal justice coursework. Also look at whether they have facilities for internships and other forms of practical training where this essential – for example in forensics or in crime scene investigation etc.
3. Faculty
The quality of faculty is extremely important. It is the quality of faculty that goes a long way in determining the kind of reputation a particular college or university has in the employment market. Always look for universities or colleges that have a large a number of faculty with PhD degrees in criminal justice rather than other lower level degrees or degrees in other subjects such as social science or politics etc.
4. Format, the Set-up or the Layout of the Program:
The online programs will list various features such as:
a. Synchronous features may include fixed time chat room or class room sessions.
b. Asynchronous elements may include:
§ Discussion forums
§ Facilities of e-mailing queries
§ Threaded discussions
c. Other significant and noteworthy features of the layout could pertain to facilities with regard to:
§ Online document sharing
§ Online labs
§ Simulations
§ Streamlined audio and videos
5. Miscellaneous Facilities:
a. Access to campus-based and online libraries
b. Career counseling and placement assistance
c. Mentoring
d. Tutoring
e. Interactions with Academic Advisors
f. Provision of Financial Aid
g. Availability of Alumni retraining, after graduation
Other specific features or parameters that you must look at when comparing online programs will pertain to the following factors:
1. Is 100 percent of the curriculum online?
2. How many students have enrolled for an online course, in the current year – this may not prove anything but will surely speak for the popularity and acceptability of the course.
3. Does the university or school have a physical campus and if so, how many. This may indicate that the university has established itself and may be of repute.
4. Does the university or college follow a competency based approach? Does it exempt you from taking up courses in areas or subjects that you have already done earlier?
5. What kind of personalized assessments are carried out?
6. Are there any supplementary benefits that the program is offering you? This could come your way for instance, if a Criminal Justice program also includes short courses directed at improving your interpersonal skills, or papers on administrative and managerial disciplines.
Apart from all of the above you also have to take a look at the cost and time factor. How much will getting the degree of your choice cost you and how much time it will take for you to get the degree of your choice.
About the Author
Jim Greenberg recommends you visit the Online Criminal Justice Degree Guide for more information on picking a criminal justice college. See http://www.ocjdg.com/2006/02/which_online_un.html for more information.
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