90-Credit Hour Online/Hybrid Bachelor of Applied Science in Criminal Justice
Program Overview
MoWest’s Criminal Justice degree delivers a flexible, 90-credit curriculum designed for working professionals, active first responders and career changers. By combining academic instruction with real-world application and hands-on experiences, this program prepares you to lead, innovate and make an immediate impact across all sectors of public safety and criminal justice. The degree is available fully online or through a combination of on-campus and online courses.
What Will You Learn?
This program will prepare you for a career in criminal justice with hands-on learning experiences. You will learn interview/interrogation skills, processing crime scenes, emergency response skills and how to engage in a variety of possible scenarios. This program focuses on teaching you the skills you need to know to further your career in the criminal justice field and the confidence to succeed.
Available Minor Programs
Law Enforcement Minor (Hybrid)
The MoWest Law enforcement minor allows you to learn the legal and practical aspects of handling criminal evidence in preparation for prosecution of offenders. This minor prepares you for a career in law enforcement while learning hands-on with experiences handling crime scene investigations. Discover law enforcement administration and leadership focusing on how to prepare a budget and lead administratively in a local police department.
Forensic Investigations Minor (Hybrid)
A Forensic Investigations minor from MoWest helps prepare a student for a career in forensic investigations as a law enforcement officer. You will experience hands-on learning with death investigation, crime scene investigation, profiling and behavioral analysis and improving investigative methods with technology.
Community and Institutional Supervision Minor (100% Online)
The MoWest Community and Institutional Supervision minor helps students planning to work in supervision of offenders either in the community (such as probation or parole officers) or in the institutional setting such as in a prison, jail or juvenile detention facility. You will learn post-conviction criminal sentencing practices and issues, about substance use and disorders, theories of victimization and how best to respond to the needs of victims.
Tuition, Fees and Timeframe
Knowing what to expect is important when planning for college costs. For more information, check our Tuition and Fees page.
Classes are 7 weeks. 6 start dates a year lets you start on your terms. Finish your degree in 3 years or less if transferring in credit from prior institutions. Students may transfer up to 60 credits and could have as little as a year left of coursework.
Scholarships
MoWest offers the Black and Gold Scholarship, an automatic scholarship for first year and transfer students. Students who qualify can earn up to $4,750 for freshman or $1500 for transfer students. This scholarship is there to make earning your degree more affordable and within reach. For more information on the Black and Gold Scholarship, visit our webpage today.
MoWest also offers over 200 institutional scholarships with only one application. The MoWest General Scholarship Application opens October 1 and closes April 4.
Credit Hour Cost
$328/hr
Duration
3 Years or less
Admissions Requirements
Students 19 Years or Younger
Applicants who demonstrate a 2.5 cumulative high school GPA will be eligible for regular admission to the University.
Applicants who don’t meet the automatic admission guidelines may be admitted as a Griffon Pathways student. The Griffon Pathways program is designed to help students strengthen academic skills needed for success at MoWest.
Students 20 Years or Older
Applicants who meet one of the following criteria will be granted automatic, regular admission to the University:
- High school graduate with 2.0 GPA or higher
- 75 HiSET or higher
- 680 GED or higher (no sub score lower than 150)
- 21 ACT (1060 SAT*) or higher
Applicants who don’t meet the automatic admission guidelines may be admitted as a Griffon Pathways student. The Griffon Pathways program is designed to help students strengthen academic skills needed for success at MoWest.
Transfer Requirements
Transfer students are admitted based on their academic records from all regionally accredited institutions they have previously attended. Any student with less than a 2.0 cumulative GPA for coursework at all previous colleges/universities will be evaluated according to the Table of Academic Standards in the University Catalog to see if they are admissible. Transcripts must be sent from college/university that credit is granted through. Find out what credit transfers with our Griffon Transfer Credit Calculator.
Students with less than 24 credits must provide final high school transcript (or HiSET/GED results)
Students who have completed an Associate of Arts degree (AA), a bachelor’s degree, or the Missouri 42-hour general education block (must be noted on the transcript or other official document) from a regionally-accredited institution, are considered to have satisfactorily completed MoWest’s general studies requirements. Completion of general studies requirements does not waive departmental major pre-requisites.
Program Requirements
Students will be required to complete 42 credit hours of Missouri General Education Core 42 Courses, all 39 credit hours of the Criminal Justice core classes and 9-12 credit hours (dependent upon which minor they choose to pursue).
General Education Core 42 Courses
Students must take 42 credit hours of Core 42 Courses. These are general education classes that are needed in order to meet degree plan requirements.
The following course counts as both a Core 42 and a Criminal Justice Core Class:
- CRJ 100 Introduction to Criminal Justice
Note: This program can be completed 100% online depending on your choice of minor. Some minors have in-person requirements. Please take a look at the course requirements below.
Criminal Justice Core Classes (39 Credit Hours - 36 Credit Hours if CRJ 100 is used as Core 42. 100% Online)
- CRJ 100 Introduction to Criminal Justice
- CRJ 110 Introduction to Juvenile Justice
- CRJ 130 Introduction to Policing
- CRJ 190 Criminal Investigation
- CRJ 200 Introduction to Corrections
- CRJ 260 Criminal Law
- CRJ 300 Criminal Justice Communications
- CRJ 305 Introduction to Theories of Crime
- CRJ 325 Understanding Research in Criminal Justice
- CRJ 410 Criminal Procedure
- CRJ 450 Independent Research/Project or CRJ 465 Internship
- CRJ 470 Senior Seminar
- LAT 420 Civil Rights Law
Law Enforcement Minor (9 Credit Hours, Hybrid)
- CRJ 320 Criminal Evidence
- CRJ 460 Criminal Justice Administration and Leadership
- CRJ 480 Crime Scene Investigations (Course only available in-person)
Forensic Investigations Minor (12 Credit Hours, Hybrid)
- CRJ 475 Death Investigation (Course only available in-person)
- CRJ 480 Crime Scene Investigation (Course only available in-person)
- CRJ 485 Profiling and Behavioral Analysis (Course only available in-person)
- CRJ 490 Criminal Investigative Methods (Course only available in-person)
Community and Institutional Supervision Minor (12 Credit Hours, 100% Online)
- CRJ 270 Probation and Parole
- CRJ 345 Victimology
- CRJ 375 Criminal Sentencing
- SWK 345 Substance Use and Disorders
