About Criminal Justice
Prepare for leadership in the fields of criminal justice and law enforcement.
The master's degree program in legal studies at California University of Pennsylvania offers you an excellent education in the specialized concentration of criminal justice. Designed for working professionals and other serious students, Cal U’s fully online program focuses on the practical application of law and policy within the criminal justice system.
Courses address practical topics that law enforcement professionals can apply to their day-to-day decision-making or use as they step up to executive leadership roles.
Expand your contribution to the community.
Students in the M.S. in Legal Studies: Criminal Justice concentration examine the structural and operational dynamics of criminal justice organizations. They engage in advanced study of the functions and processes of the American criminal justice system, and research and analyze contemporary criminal justice issues.
As a graduate student in this program, you’ll dig deep into critical issues of police accountability, including police practices that frequently trigger civil liability. You’ll learn risk management approaches for reducing criminal and civil liability, and you’ll study investigative practices for financial crimes and sexual offenses.
In short, you’ll build knowledge, skills and confidence, so you are better prepared to advance your career and the cause of criminal justice.
The online master’s in legal studies can be completed in one year of full-time or two years of part-time study. Cal U’s accelerated B.A. to M.S. in Legal Studies option reduces time to completion even further by allowing undergraduate students to complete up to 12 credits of graduate-level courses during their senior year.