Connecticut Criminal Justice Degree Programs

Overview

Running a license plate is a staple of law enforcement today, but for many years after the invention of the automobile plates weren’t required. Connecticut, also home to the nation’s first state prison, changed this in 1937 when it issued the first permanent license plates.

Criminal Justice Education in Connecticut

Getting a criminal justice education in Connecticut is easy with over 20 schools to choose from. Programs offer a number of specializations and award certificates, associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees. There are also several online programs available if you are unable to attend a university. Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees are both available in the criminal justice field.

In addition to the basic core classes to earn a bachelor’s degree, some of the most common courses include:

• Introduction to the Criminal Justice System
• Law Enforcement and Society
• Criminal Procedure and the Courts
• Corrections
• Criminology
• Research Methods in Criminal Justice

Internship classes are attended in the last year of the Bachelor Degree program in a variety of location, which depend of a student’s personal interest Some common areas for internships include the CT State Police Forensic Laboratory, correctional facility and at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

The higher level of a master’s level degree is specifically designed to gain knowledge and skills necessary for leadership positions, and it also prepares student who plan to get their doctorate.

The objectives of this program include:

• The collection and analysis of data to evaluate criminal justice polices and their programs
• To present research proposals and findings to criminal justice professionals
• To analyze functions and relations between diverse criminal justice systems
• To apply social and psychological models of crime and intervention to relevant offender populations

While Criminal Justice has growing job demands for individuals with higher degrees, there are only 50 doctoral programs offered in the United States. Connecticut has full-time and part-time PhD programs available. The focus of these programs is on investigative science, law and public policy, criminal behavior and policing. A doctorate degree also prepares students for unique positions working in research, for consulting firms and public policy groups.

There are other new criminal justice degrees in Criminal Justice in Business Administration, Clinical Forensic Psychology and is Strategic Security.

Scholarships for criminal justice education are also plentiful. Your school can help you apply for the ones offered through the American Criminal Justice Association as well as those awarded through private organizations like the BECA, Inc. Edna R. Anthony Memorial Scholarship offered to students attending a historically black university or college.

Outlook for Criminal Justice in Connecticut

Connecticut has numerous criminal justice types of jobs available including probationary positions, security officers, policemen, court administrator clerks, tenured track assistant professors of criminal justice and case managers. You can also look into non-traditional career paths associated with criminal justice such as private investigator, victim advocate coordinator crime analysis and public safety officers.

In Connecticut, like most other states, the more education or experience your law enforcement job requires, the better the pay. For example, detectives earn a mean annual wage of $96,020 while patrol officers earn less at just over $77,280, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2022. Career opportunities in Public Protection include Major Crime Squad, Emergency Services Unit, Traffic Units, Bureau of Criminal Investigations, Fire Investigations Unit, Forensics Laboratory, Polygraph Unit and Resident Trooper as found on CT’s Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection website. As of 2022, Connecticut had around 7,210 policeman, sheriffs and detectives. These jobs are expected to increase over the next few years as the crime rate increases.

The annual salary for forensic science technicians averages $81,760. Connecticut also has a need for correction officers who earn an average annual salary of $56,370 and probation officers who earn an average of $91,690 if they have a bachelor’s degree (BLS, 2022).

2022 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary and employment figures for Connecticut contained here reflect national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed November 2023.

Advance your career with a criminal justice degree! Use our featured school listings to find and compare criminal justice programs that fit your goals.

Once you’ve contacted schools that interest you, click here to learn about available scholarships in criminal justice.