Working as a probation officer, in research or any other area of the criminal justice system requires a college degree like the one you can get from Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Kentucky.
Kentucky is home to major cities like Louisville and Lexington that have a high need for professionals with a CJ degree, but you’ll also find job opportunities in some of the more rural areas of the state. Earning your degree through one of these programs can prepare you for going directly to work in the field or for getting your graduate and even doctoral degree later.
Be sure not to miss the first half our list, found here: Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice Programs in Kentucky (A-L)
Midway University
Undergraduate Programs
Midway University is a fully accredited university with a campus in the Kentucky city of the same name. It offers a number of opportunities for college students like a work study program that allows students to work jobs on its campus during the school year. The university also has a study abroad program that lets students majoring in any field to spend a semester or more studying overseas. Midway University offers three of the top Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Kentucky, including a traditional program, an evening program with longer classes and an online version of the program.
Criminal Justice
When looking at all the different criminal justice programs that Midway University offers, it’s best to start with a look at its traditional program. Designed for students to finish in four years, it includes 40 credits of general education requirements and 21 credits of core criminal justice classes. Core courses include courts and court procedure, corrections and introduction to criminal justice. You’ll also take a research practicum and do a capstone. The university then lets you fill out your schedule with electives and other criminal justice classes that might include criminal organizations, abnormal psychology, forensic psychology and an internship.
Criminal Justice – Evening Program
If you want to study criminal justice but worry about finding time in your schedule, you’ll appreciate the evening program that Midway University offers. Though this program features the same classes as the traditional program, it gives students the freedom to take classes that meet just once a week instead of the standard three times a week. Classes usually start at around six or seven at night and run for three hours. You can take just one class a semester or more. If you take more classes, the university will recommend that you take online classes to fill out your schedule.
Criminal Justice – Online Program
Another option for busy students is the online criminal justice program that Midway University offers. This program features the same classes as the traditional program but is 100% online, which means that you’ll never need to visit the campus. The same professors teaching courses on the campus will teach your online classes too. Online classes are more affordable, and the university offers financial aid and payment plans for its online students. This program includes classes that teach you about the criminal justice system in America, including police ethics, criminal investigation, issues of terrorism, corrections and criminal acts.
Accreditation
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
Contact
512 East Stephens St.
Midway, Kentucky 40347
(800) 952-4122
Murray State University
College of Education and Human Services
Murray State University hires professors with real life experience because the university wants its students to get an inside look at this field. Its criminal justice program, which ranks as one of the top Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Kentucky, helps students more easily make the transition to graduate school and allows them to enroll in its master’s program in human development and leadership, which features a concentration in criminal justice. The university also believes in cooperative education and can help students find part-time jobs and internships working within the criminal justice field in and around Murray.
Criminal Justice
MSU offers both a major and an area in criminal justice. Choosing an area rather than a major means that you’ll take a wide range of related courses in psychology and other fields in addition to criminal justice. Those who major in the subject will need to take a minimum of 39 credits of general education courses and 26 credits of required criminal justice classes that include crime and criminals, introduction to criminal justice, law enforcement and corrections. You will also need to take a seminar and do an in-depth research paper. Some of the other courses available include juvenile justice and violent crime.
Accreditation
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
Contact
102 Curris Center
Murray, Kentucky 42071
(800) 272-4678
Northern Kentucky University
College of Arts and Sciences
Northern Kentucky University, also called NKU, is a public university with a main campus in Highland Heights. This university offers two Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Kentucky that are available as an online program or a traditional program. The online version of the program is a great option for students who do not want to move to Highland Heights for school and those who have obligations beyond school. If this program interests you, you’ll need to apply for the online program rather than the traditional one. Even if you enroll in the traditional program, you still have the chance to take some online classes.
B.A. in Criminal Justice
NKU designed this criminal justice program for students to finish it in four years and even designed a schedule that students can follow to earn their degrees within this time frame. In addition to general education courses, you’ll take 24 credits of core CJ classes that include introduction to criminal justice, police in America, corrections in America, the criminal court justice system and criminal justice research methods. You’ll also take 24 credits of CJ electives, but NKU offers unique classes like criminal justice in film, alternatives to incarceration, women in criminal justice and evidence preparation and courtroom testimony.
Accreditation
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
Contact
Nunn Drive
Highland Heights, KY 41099
(859) 572-5100
Thomas More College
Academics
Graduates of the Thomas More College criminal justice program now work as police officers, probation officers, corrections officers and law/policy advocates. This is one of the only Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Kentucky with an internship requirement. Unlike other colleges that let you pick whether to do an internship, this program requires that all students do one. The college will help you decide where to work, and your adviser will show you how to keep track of your work. You’ll usually work around 10 hours a week and earn three credits that count towards your degree.
Criminal Justice
In addition to doing an internship, this criminal justice program requires that you take an elective from the psychology, economics, political science, history or communications department. You’ll also need to take a course on social science statistics, which is a psychology course, and a class on either social problems or class, race and gender. Students also take 21 credits of criminal justice electives as well as classes on research methods and criminology. During your final year, you’ll also take a criminal justice seminar. Though the seminar topic changes each semester, students will need to conduct their own research and write a paper.
Accreditation
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
Contact
333 Thomas More Parkway
Crestview Hills, KY 41017
(859) 344-3389
thistla@thomasmore.edu
Union College
Academics
Union College designed a criminal justice program that allows students to study different disciplines and learn how those disciplines work together. The classes that you take will cover law and political science as well as social sciences like sociology and psychology. This program also focuses on the disputes that arise between the criminal justice system and the government and the steps that professionals working in these fields take to end those disputes. In addition to a full bachelor’s degree program, Union College also offers a criminal justice minor for those who want to major in psychology or a similar subject.
Criminal Justice
When comparing Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Kentucky, it’s important that you look at the required courses that you must take. This helps you see which classes you’ll take and whether those classes will help you with any career goals that you have. This program includes a core of five classes like public policy and criminal justice and comparative criminal justice. You must also take a seminar course that requires you study a topic in class, do your own research and write a paper on the subject. Union offers other courses like criminal law and criminal procedure too.
Accreditation
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
Contact
310 College St.
Barbourville, KY 40906
(800) 489-8646
University of Louisville
Undergraduate Degree Programs
The University of Louisville actually offers a number of the top Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Kentucky. One of those is an online program that allows students to earn their criminal justice degrees online. This program is open to Kentucky residents and students living in other states. It also offers a unique program called the Criminal Justice Accelerated Track to Law 3 + 3 program. This program allows undergraduates to spend three years working on a CJ degree and three years working on a law degree. Students in this program begin taking law school classes in their senior years.
Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice
Louisville offers a standard program that awards students a Bachelor of Science, or BS, in Criminal Justice. This program requires that students take classes on its campus in Louisville, though students can take some online classes too. You’ll need to take 34 credits of general education courses as well as courses that show you are competent and proficient in reading and writing. The university requires that students take 24 credits of criminal justice electives, 12 credits of general electives and 30 credits of required classes such as criminal procedure, research design and criminal law and evidence.
Accreditation
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
Contact
University of Louisville
Brigman Hall
Louisville, Kentucky 40292
(502) 852-6567
justice@uofl
University of Pikeville
Division of Social Sciences
The University of Pikeville is a public university in Pikeville, Kentucky that most call UPike. Located near the state’s border with West Virginia, it started as a small teaching school that quickly grew to include degree programs in other subjects. Its teaching program still ranks as one of the best in the south today. As the university grew, the city of the same name grew with it. While it once primarily educated students from rural parts of the state and nearby states, it now admits students from other parts of the country as well as students who come from other countries.
Criminal Justice
One of the only Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Kentucky that also has an associate’s option is the UPike program. Pikeville students can earn an associate’s degree, which usually takes around two years to finish, before enrolling in its full bachelor’s program. The associate’s program gives students a basic understanding of criminal justice subjects and prepares them for enrolling in the bachelor’s program, but the university also allows students to enroll directly in the bachelor’s program. This program features courses like ethics in criminal justice, statistics for the social sciences, investigative function in law enforcement and community policing.
Accreditation
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
Contact
147 Sycamore St.
Pikeville, Kentucky 41501
(606) 218-5250
University of the Cumberlands
Academics
The University of the Cumberlands actually operates two different campuses in Kentucky. Its main campus is in Williamsburg, which is also the oldest campus that it runs. The second campus is in Florence and just a short drive from Cincinnati, Ohio. This campus goes by the name of the UC Northern Kentucky campus to distinguish it from the main UC campus. UC allows prospective students to request more information online. The university will arrange for a representative to call you and talk with you more about the program that interests you. You can also schedule a campus tour over the phone.
Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice
One of the only Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Kentucky that comes with concentration options is this UC program. Concentration options include law enforcement management, criminal profiling, forensics or prison ministries. You’ll need to take 27 credits of required criminal justice classes and take 18 classes relating to the concentration that you chose. Courses include deviance and society, introduction to criminal justice, white collar crime and society and criminal law. The university offers both a BS and a BA program. BA students will need to prove proficiency in a foreign language to earn a CJ degree.
Accreditation
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
Contact
6178 College Station Dr.
Williamsburg, KY 40769
(877) 713-8767
Western Kentucky University
Sociology
Located in Bowling Green, Western Kentucky University is a public university that offers a variety of degree programs and learning opportunities for students. Often called WKU, it has its own sociology department that offers majors in social sciences like sociology, social work and criminal justice. One benefit of this program is that it lets you study more than just criminology. You’ll also learn more about the psychology behind why criminals react and behave in the ways that they do. This program allows students to apply for internships and do independent study projects to gain more experience before they graduate.
Major in Criminology for Undergraduate Students
Most of the Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Kentucky require that you take general education courses in addition to criminology classes, and this WKU program is no exception. Your adviser will work with you to ensure that you take all the general education courses necessary and can recommend other classes to take like electives and courses that will count towards your minor. You’ll need to take 22 credits of core CJ courses, including juvenile delinquency, social deviance and using statistics in sociology. The university asks that you take 12 credits of CJ electives like organized crime and victimology.
Accreditation
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
Contact
1906 College Heights Blvd.
Bowling Green, KY 42101
(270) 745-2291
john.faine@wku.edu
No matter where you want to live and work in Kentucky, you’ll find a college program just right for you in the Bluegrass State. Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Kentucky often give you the chance to gain some practical experience that will help you on your job hunt, too.
