Crime poses a serious challenge to society.
The Criminal Justice program seeks to provide insight into this problem
while preparing future leaders with the knowledge and skills necessary
to operate an effective and humane system of justice. The program
is designed to provide a liberal arts education for students planning
a career in the
field of criminal justice. Many of the courses in the curriculum
are interdisciplinary in nature, with perspectives of other disciplines
like psychology and sociology
being offered.
The Criminal Justice curriculum has become attractive to a diverse group
of students with a broad range of career interests, including local, state,
and federal law enforcement positions, juvenile work, counseling, corrections,
probation and parole, social work, security and investigation, and law. The
following information on salaries was taken from a recent publication on
careers in criminal justice (Henry, 1994).
The salaries of these positions vary significantly depending on years of service,
rank, location and size of the community in which the agency is located. Generally,
federal level agencies pay the highest salaries followed by large city departments,
parish/county agencies and small cities and towns. In he late 1900's, the national
median salary for local police officers across all ranks was $27,648, high
in
the West of $32,577, low in the South of $23,589. Beginning salaries for patrol
officers and corrections officers averaged approximately $21,000, high in the
West of $25,000, low in the South of $17,600.
Many students aspire to become Federal Bureau of Investigation agents. It is
an extremely competitive process. Applicants must be graduates of an accredited
college, aged 23 to 34, and in excellent physical condition. Five types of college
degrees are allowed: Law, Accounting, Engineering and Science, Language and "Diversified." Criminal
Justice majors fall under the"Diversified" category and must have three
years full time experience in addition to an earned bachelors degree. The entrance
level salary (GS 10) of approximately $30,000, increases to around $37,000 after
training and overtime are added.
A growing number of students advance to graduate school or law school after completing
the bachelor's degree. The Criminal Justice Society, a student organization,
is very active in promoting the career and extracurricular interests of its members. |
