In 2010, Michigan State University received the 71st-place ranking among all universities in the United State from "U.S. News and World Report." The East Lansing-based school is a public institution and opened in 1855. Social studies programs like criminal justice are among those most popular with the school's more than 36,000 undergraduate students, reports the 2009 "Barron's Profiles of American Colleges." The Bachelor of Science program in criminal justice is one of the oldest in the nation and provides numerous opportunities not found at other institutions, including departmental study abroad in Australia and Madagascar, semester-long studies in Hawaii or Washington, D.C. and internship placements with law enforcement agencies throughout Michigan. At the graduate level, the university offers master's programs in forensic science, criminal justice and law enforcement intelligence and analysis, as well as doctoral degrees in conservation criminology, homeland security, intelligence analysis, international law, judicial administration and security management.
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
517-355-8332
msu.edu
The United Methodist Church founded Adrian College in 1859 in a small-town setting approximately 35 miles southwest of Ann Arbor. "U.S. News and World Report" ranked the college thirty-second among all baccalaureate colleges in the Midwest in 2010. One of the programs of study for the school's more than 1,400 undergraduate students is a Bachelor of Arts in criminal justice. Students in the program have the option to specialize in legal research and courts, treatment and corrections or police, investigation or forensics. All students complete an internship as part of the major requirements. Possible opportunities include working as a juvenile probation officer, riding along with police officers, working in dispatch at a sheriff's office, observing probation hearings or various jobs at area prisons.
Adrian College
110 South Madison St.
Adrian, MI 49221
800-877-2246
adrian.edu
Affiliated with the United Church of Christ, Olivet College is 120 miles west of Detroit and is home to more than 1,100 undergraduate students. The college's criminal justice program is one of its highest-rated academically, according to the 2009 "Barron's Profiles of American Colleges." The program culminates in a bachelor's degree and offers a concentration in law enforcement. Students in this specialty take classes in juvenile delinquency, policing, criminal investigations and ethics. An internship and a senior seminar with an associated thesis paper are required for graduation. In addition, all students at the college must complete a 40-hour service learning requirement by volunteering or completing a community service project.
Olivet College
320 South Main St.
Olivet, MI 49076
269-749-7635
olivetcollege.edu