California State University at Fullerton defines criminal justice as the study of "the causes, consequences and control of crime." Criminal justice is an interdisciplinary field combining topics from law, philosophy, psychology, political science, sociology and other fields that assist with understanding and developing strategies related to crime.
Pursuing law school is only one option for a student of criminal justice. Graduates go on to careers as bailiffs, crime scene technicians, paralegals, court reporters, probation officers, corrections officers, police officers, forensic psychologists, federal marshals, Secret Service agents and other professions.
According to the 2011 rankings of Best Social & Sciences and Humanities programs by "U.S. News & World Report," the University of Maryland-College Park, University at Albany-SUNY, University of Cincinnati, University of Missouri-St. Louis and Pennsylvania State University-University Park have the best graduate level programs in criminology. Albany, Cincinnati and Penn State also offer undergraduate criminal justice programs.
Students interested in studying criminal justice as a stepping stone to becoming lawyers may wish to study at a university with an ABA approved law school to ease the transition from undergraduate to graduate study. There are 200 ABA approved law schools. ABA approved law programs may be found at public educational institutions from Maine to Hawaii and in Puerto Rico. Privately held universities, however, account for approximately 60 percent of ABA approved institutions. Universities that offer both criminal justice undergraduate programs and law schools include American University, Arizona State University, City University of New York and Florida A&M University.
Although it is possible to pursue an undergraduate criminal justice degree via distance learning, there are no approved law schools offering the juris doctorate completely via distance education. Since the schools offering online law programs are not on the list of ABA approved law schools, consultation with a law school admissions counselor regarding future law school admission prior to applying for one of these undergraduate programs is advisable.
Colleges and universities with online criminal justice programs, such as Utica College, may offer other graduate study opportunities, such as an advanced degree in criminal justice or a master's degree program in related fields like economic crime and fraud management.