Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Massachusetts offer students a solid foundation in the criminal justice field. These programs feature a wide range of courses that go over all aspects of the legal justice system as well as the theories behind why criminals act and behave in the ways they do and what rehabilitation methods are best. Students will even take classes to learn the best ways of doing research on criminal justice topics. Graduates can become police officers and work for the government, but many students also go on to law school or graduate school. Massachusetts is home to a variety of CJ programs. Here we present the final installment of our list of bachelor’s in criminal justice degrees in MA. For our first two lists, see:
- Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice Programs in Massachusetts (A-C)
- Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice Programs in Massachusetts (D-N)
Salem State University
College of Health and Human Services
The College of Health and Human Services at Salem State University is dedicated to the education and training of healthcare professionals and those who want to work in human services. Though this department originally offered courses in nursing and similar fields, it later expanded its curriculum to include courses in criminal justice too. Students majoring in this field can pick from a variety of concentrations, including administration, criminology, criminal investigation, and geo-information. Salem State also offers a certificate program for CJ students in correctional administration that provides students with more experience in corrections before they graduate with a degree.
Criminal Justice BS
Salem State University offers two of the top Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Massachusetts. One of those programs is a BS in Criminal Justice. This program teaches students how to conduct research and how to communicate with others, while at the same time giving them a strong background in different areas of the criminal justice field. Students can pick a concentration in either criminal investigation or administration. The administration concentration is best for those who want to work as leaders or supervisors. Salem State designed the criminal investigation concentration for those who want to work as law enforcement professionals.
Criminal Justice BS/MS
The university also offers a combined degree program that it calls its Criminal Justice BS/MS program. Graduates who successfully complete this program will earn both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice. As a five-year program, its design allows students to graduate with both degrees in less time than it would normally take. Students have the option of taking graduate courses during their senior year that will count towards the credits that both degrees require. They will then spend one final year, called the fifth year, taking all the remaining required graduate classes to complete a master’s degree.
Accreditation
New England Association of Colleges and Schools (NEACS)
Contact
352 Lafayette St.
Salem, MA 01970
(978) 542-6000
Springfield College
Programs
U.S. News & World Report ranked Springfield College as one of the top regional schools for 2018, which is an honor it received multiple times in the past. The college offers guidance and help for its criminal justice students who already know what they want to do in the future. It will pair future law school applicants with advisers who help them apply for law school and select courses that will benefit them in their legal studies. The college can help students finish a bachelor’s degree and law school in only six years. Springfield also offers support for students who want to become social workers.
Criminal Justice Bachelor of Science
Springfield College offers various options for those with an interest in studying criminal justice because it offers a few of the highest ranked Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Massachusetts. The Criminal Justice Bachelor of Science is a program that the college designed for students with no college credits and no college experience. It features courses like civil liberties, social research and program evaluation, drugs and society, deviant behavior, constitutional law and crime scene investigation. The college provides students with a sample schedule that shows them what courses they can take each semester during freshmen orientation.
Human Services Major with Criminal Justice Concentration
The School of Professional and Continuing Studies at Springfield College focuses on the education and training of students who already have some work experience as well as those who took college classes before and those who want to earn a degree at an advanced age. This school offers a Human Services Major with a Criminal Justice Concentration. Students can enroll in the program and take all required courses on one of the five regional and satellite campuses operated by the college. Those campuses are in convenient locations around Massachusetts, California and other states, including Wilmington, Tampa Bay, Milwaukee, and Springfield.
Accreditation
New England Association of Colleges and Schools (NEACS)
Contact
263 Alden St.
Springfield, MA 01109
(413) 748-3000
Stonehill College
Department of Sociology & Criminology
Established by the Congregation of the Holy Cross, Stonehill College is a small school in Easton, Massachusetts. Going to a smaller school like this has a number of benefits for students. Many find that they have an easier time signing up for classes each semester and that they have more chances to make friends and meet new people. The university offers a criminology program designed to prepare students for working as law enforcement professionals and in fields like corrections and rehabilitation. This program is unique because it looks at working with individuals as well as working with small groups.
Criminology Major
One of the only Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Massachusetts that requires students do an internship is the criminology program offered by Stonehill College. The university will place students in a human services organization or a law enforcement agency to help them gain some hands-on experience before they graduate. This allows students to decide what jobs they want to work in before leaving the program. The university also has a program called the Learning Inside Out Network program. It allows students to work overseas or in a domestic agency as they do research and gain some practical experience.
Accreditation
New England Association of Colleges and Schools (NEACS)
Contact
320 Washington St.
Easton, MA 02357
(508) 565-1000
University of Massachusetts – Boston
College of Liberal Arts
The University of Massachusetts has branches all across the state that provide opportunities for students. A large number of continuing education students and high school graduates choose the campus in Boston because it has a convenient location in the city. This makes it easier for students to find housing that is close to the campus and for them to find jobs close to the campus. The university uses the internet to connect with students. Students can use Twitter to send messages to different departments. They can also use their own account information to log in and view information relating to their classes and upcoming semesters.
Criminology and Criminal Justice, BA
One of the only Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Massachusetts that combines both criminal justice and criminology is this University of Massachusetts – Boston program. This program looks at all areas of criminal justice to help students understand why criminals engage in illegal behavior and what the correctional industry can do about those criminals. Students will either need to take a capstone and write a research paper or do an internship in their final years. They’ll also have the chance to take courses like juvenile delinquency, the police and society, punishment and corrections, sociological statistics and criminal courts.
Accreditation
New England Association of Colleges and Schools (NEACS)
Contact
100 William T. Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA 02125
(617) 287-5000
University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth
College of Arts and Sciences
Another branch of the University of Massachusetts is the one in Dartmouth, which goes by the name UMass Dartmouth. This university accepts students based on the applications that they submit. It puts weight on factors like ACT or SAT test scores, the personal statements that students write and the high school classes that they took. All applicants must submit a transcript from their high schools. UMass Dartmouth gives preference to students who followed a college prep curriculum throughout high school. The university also uses personal statements to identify students with more volunteer, leadership and community service experience.
Crime & Justice Studies
UMass Dartmouth encourages criminal justice students to do internships and works hard to place students at some of the top agencies and organizations in the state. Students can work for the juvenile court probation department, local police stations, the public defender’s office or even for the district attorney. This is one of the only Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Massachusetts that provides students with fieldwork opportunities too. Students can sign up for research fieldwork experiences that award them credits for conducting research in the field. Courses in this program include social control, justice and society, contemporary topics in justice and politics of policing.
Accreditation
New England Association of Colleges and Schools (NEACS)
Contact
285 Old Westport Rd.
Dartmouth, MA 02747
(508) 999-8000
University of Massachusetts – Lowell
School of Criminology and Justice Studies
When students apply to UMass Lowell, which is a branch of the University of Massachusetts, they have the option of creating a personal account with login information known only to them. They can then log in and check the status of their applications. This helps them see whether the university requires any more information from them or when the university made a decision regarding the application. Students enrolled in its undergraduate criminal justice program can easily apply to the university’s graduate CJ program, which ranks as one of the top online CJ programs in the country today.
Bachelor of Science
UMass Lowell offers more concentration options for its criminal justice program than all the other Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Massachusetts do. Students can pick a concentration when they first enroll or wait until they take a few classes to see which concentration interests them. Those options include violence, police, corrections, crime and mental health and Homeland Security. All courses that students take will apply to one of eight different study areas that include research and evaluation and crime prevention. Other courses focus on criminal law, prosecution, defense, police organizations, law enforcement agencies and reasons for criminal activities.
Accreditation
New England Association of Colleges and Schools (NEACS)
Contact
113 Wilder St.
Lowell, MA 01854
(978) 934-4139
Western New England University
College of Arts and Sciences
Western New England University, also called WNEU, got approval from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Board of Higher Education for its criminal justice program. This approval makes it one of the only Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Massachusetts that is a participant in the Police Career Incentive Pay Program. That program makes it easier for students to begin their careers in law enforcement in agencies in Massachusetts and allows those students to receive pay raises as they gain more experience and complete their studies. A large number of WNEU graduates work for police stations and other law enforcement agencies in the state.
Criminal Justice
Criminal justice students at WNEU can join the university’s honors club society for those with high grades and the Criminal Justice Association that meets on the campus. The program offers some other unique opportunities for students that include access to study abroad programs that let them spend an entire semester studying in another country. Students will need to do an internship in their junior year and a second internship in their senior year, but the university will place students in agencies and offices that relate to their future goals. The program features courses on criminology, corrections, criminal law and the judicial process.
Accreditation
New England Association of Colleges and Schools (NEACS)
Contact
1215 Wilbraham Rd.
Springfield, MA 01119
(800) 325-1122
Westfield State University
Degrees
Westfield State University offers more Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Massachusetts than any other college in the state does. While it offers a more traditional option for those who can come to campus every day or a few times a week, it also offers a part-time program for those who want to take nighttime classes as well as an online program. Each one of these programs prepares students for working for the federal government as well as for state and local agencies. A large number of its graduates apply to police academies and to Homeland Security and similar government agencies.
Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice
The traditional Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice program offered by Westfield State University features classes that students can take on its campus every week. Students also have the option of taking online classes too. It includes a CJ core of six classes such as theories of crime, law enforcement and society, research methods in criminal justice and introduction to criminal justice. Students will then take 21 credits of electives and take general education courses to meet the minimum amount needed to graduate. The university requires that students maintain a 2.5 grade point average and that they score a C- or higher in all required courses.
Criminal Justice Degree (B.S.), Part-Time Evening
Westfield State University added a part-time criminal justice program to its curriculum as a way to meet the needs of some of its working students. Though it features the same required classes as the traditional program does, the courses in this program meet later in the day and after most people stop working. This allows students with other commitments to schedule their classes around those commitments. The university lets students take daytime classes during certain semesters. All criminal justice students also have the right to take one or more online classes in each semester, including core classes, electives, and general education classes.
Criminal Justice (B.S.) Online Completion
Not all students have access to a car or the public transportation needed to reach the campus, which is why this university now offers an online completion program for students with an interest in criminal justice. This program is open to students living in Massachusetts as well as those living in other states. The university originally designed this program for students who completed a basic degree through a Massachusetts community college. Those with an associate’s degree can transfer their credits to the full university, which reduces the number of classes that they need to take and can help them graduate in just two years.
Accreditation
New England Association of Colleges and Schools (NEACS)
Contact
577 Western Av.
Westfield, MA 01086
(413) 572-5300
Worcester State University
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Worcester State University provides students with more information about the criminal justice system and related subjects than almost any other college or university in Massachusetts. Professors working in this program remain up to date on changes in the field and on recent advances. Students study those topics in their classes and on their own time. They can learn about racial conflicts that arose in recent years and what steps law enforcement agencies across the country take to help those at the local level. This program also has an information technology component that helps students prepare for working in cybersecurity positions for private companies and for the government.
Criminal Justice Major
WSU offers one of the standard Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Massachusetts that requires students take and complete 120 credits of work, which allows full-time students to graduate in four years. The major core of this program features 21 credits of classes that allow students to learn more about a broad overview of CJ topics. Those core classes include research methods in criminal justice, theories of crime, law enforcement and society and introduction to corrections. There is also a criminal justice capstone and a course that looks at the judicial system in America.
Accreditation
New England Association of Colleges and Schools (NEACS)
Contact
486 Chandler St.
Worcester, MA 01602
(508) 929-8000
It’s important that students today take some time to research criminal justice programs to ensure that they find one that covers all the subjects that interest them and one that will help prepare them for their future endeavors. Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice degree programs in Massachusetts are suitable for all types of students.
