Criminal Justice (MS)

With an online Master of Science in Criminal Justice from Xavier University, students’ opportunities for work in the field expand immensely. Careers include:

Law Enforcement

• Law Enforcement Officer: A law enforcement officer is a government employee who is responsible for preventing, investigating, apprehending and detaining individuals who are suspected or convicted of breaking the law. Law enforcement officers include uniformed police officers, special jurisdiction police, sheriffs and deputies, state police officers, detectives, and fish and game wardens. Some examples of the many fields of opportunity of work for law enforcement officers include crime scene investigation, human trafficking, emergency management and many teaching positions.
• Prison Warden: The prison warden is the top corrections officer at a correctional facility. As they are in a leadership position, they are primarily responsible for the safe and secure operation of the facility.
• Security Managers: Security managers train new officers, plan and implement security standards, policies and procedures focused on the crime prevention aspect of law enforcement rather than responding. They monitor all large events to ensure public safety.

Criminology

• Criminologist: This area focuses on criminal justice theory, studying crimes, and their cause, effects and social impacts. A criminologist searches and analyzes data to determine the reason the crime was committed and find ways to predict, deter and prevent further crimes.
• Forensic Psychologist: Forensic psychologists apply psychology to criminal matters. They often work in family courts offering psychotherapy services, performing child custody evaluations, and visitation risk assessments. Forensic psychologists that work in criminal courts conduct assessments of juvenile and adult offenders, perform mental competency evaluations and work with child witnesses. They can also work in civil courts providing psychotherapy to crime victims and providing second opinions.
• Forensic Investigator: Fraud investigators help identify fraudulent activities and work to prevent them in the future. Common organizations that employ this role include financial institutions, insurance companies, private investigation firms, and government organizations.
• Policy Analyst: A criminal justice policy analyst gathers, reviews and conducts analysis on data to find trends in the effectiveness of the criminal justice system programs. Duties may include reviewing statistics, determining jail efficiency, reviewing jail management and serving on committees.

Legal

• Attorney General Investigators or District Attorneys: Both of these positions involve criminal justice theory, investigating crimes, undercover work and testimony. District Attorneys may also serve warrants and collaborate with other agencies on cases.
• Victim Advocate: A victim advocate provides information and notification of court proceedings, offers emotional support and victims rights information.
• Correctional Caseworker: This role works with convicted criminals to help rehabilitate and reintroduce them to the community.

Homeland Security

• Cyber Defense Operator: Cyber defense operators collect and process information on a target using geolocation. Other duties include tactical forensic analysis, network navigation and on net operations.
• Intelligence Analyst: An intelligence analyst gathers and analyzes data from a multitude of sources such as law enforcement databases, surveillance, intelligence networks and GIS systems. This career in homeland security focuses on using information gathered to anticipate and prevent organized crime like terrorist attacks.
• Special Agent at the FBI: FBI agents investigate drug trafficking, terrorism, white-collar crime, extortion, and foreign counterintelligence at a national level.
• Special Agent at the DEA: DEA agents are focused specifically on illegal drug trafficking and can be a national or international position.
• Cybersecurity Investigator: Cyber investigation is the process of tracking criminals via the computer. Cybercrimes such as internet fraud, pornography, hacking, copyright infringement, and malicious viral attacks can be performed locally or worldwide. Cybersecurity investigators use a wide variety of techniques and tools to search for and apprehend cybercriminals.

Many professionals entering the criminal justice field already hold an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in another discipline. Roles such as corrections officers, court advocates, paralegals and cybercrime specialists often attract graduates with backgrounds in social work, psychology, law or computer science.

Regardless of previous degrees, Xavier University’s Master of Science in Criminal Justice provides the advanced knowledge and leadership skills needed to launch or advance students’ careers in the public or private sector. The program prepares students for management and leadership positions equipping them to make meaningful impacts in the criminal justice system.

No, the criminal justice degree is from Xavier University and is awarded on meeting coursework standards independent of course delivery regardless of being an online program. You will receive a Master of Science in Criminal Justice degree.

If you are new to online learning at Xavier University, we encourage you to go through the student orientation for online courses.