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I demanded that all of my sons major in a liberal arts subject, as I did and my wife did.
Liberal arts degrees teach critical thinking and stress writing and communication. Most employers need these skills. A person who has studies Criminal Justice, or Medical Technology has not learned these sills.
College is not trade school.
Criminal justice is an easy major at the undergraduate level, but it's not as applied as people think it is, which is actually the problem because students think it's job training. It's really just a sub-field of sociology with a little bit of law thrown in. It's not unheard of for colleges and universities to treat criminal justice as a liberal art. Some colleges will let you use criminal justice courses for a social science requirement and teach criminal justice out of the school of arts and sciences.
Medical technology programs are heavy on science courses, and you can develop critical thinking skills in science courses because the sciences are liberal arts.
Criminal justice is a 2-year degree at the community colleges in my state, not a university degree.
Many universities offer a 4-year degree in criminal justice. It is one of the top 10 most popular majors among bachelor degree seekers in the country. There are also masters and PhD programs in criminal justice. I'm earning a PhD in criminal justice and have taught the subject to university students.
My college had criminal justice as a bachelor's degree too.
To some extent I see subjects like that as the problem. It's pretty useless as its own as a major - if you're smart and competent you're going to go on to grad school in a subject like forensic science so you can actually be a detective or something like that, although communications or anthropology would actually have been more rigorous choices.
Some go on to law school - but again - political science, etc... would have been better.
If you're not so smart and competent but pass a criminal justice program, you'll go on to be admin for a police dept or local gov't, 911 administrator, security manager for a company or something of that nature. We really shouldn't have anything more than 2-year degrees for most criminal justice occupations but now it's a de facto requirement just to be something like a dispatcher or file clerk for the police dept.
Like I said before, the problem is not the liberal arts but college itself. We have a lot more college grads than ever before so the job situation declines in a reative sense for most graduates including the liberal arts ones. Where a history major might have gotten that police dispatcher job, now it goes to someone with a specific degree in criminal justice... because they have the luxury of so many graduates to choose from.
College was never supposed to be for specific job training purposes. It was to create informed citizens. Even in the 19th century expansion, it was to prepare people for advanced industry, industrial management or to create farmer-entrepreneurs and agricultural innovators.
My college had criminal justice as a bachelor's degree too.
To some extent I see subjects like that as the problem. It's pretty useless as its own as a major - if you're smart and competent you're going to go on to grad school in a subject like forensic science so you can actually be a detective or something like that, although communications or anthropology would actually have been more rigorous choices.
Detectives don't need a degree in forensic science. They don't even need a degree. They don't need extensive scientific training. They are trained on the job. The ones working in the lab are usually not officers and are the ones with degrees in chemistry, biology, or forensic science. Often, detectives are not even the ones collecting the physical evidence; they have evidence technicians and crime scene investigators for that.
A detective or investigator (not including crime scene investigators) is a career progression position. You spend a few years on patrol and promote to detective/investigator either by seniority or a competitive process. Some departments might give extra points for having a degree, but rarely is a specific degree required.
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Some go on to law school - but again - political science, etc... would have been better.
Political science is not the best degree for getting into law school; it just happens to be the most popular major among aspiring lawyers. What is important for law school is a high GPA and LSAT score. Unfortunately, criminal justice majors tend to have low LSAT scores, but I think this has more to do with the type of person who is attracted to the major.
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If you're not so smart and competent but pass a criminal justice program, you'll go on to be admin for a police dept or local gov't, 911 administrator, security manager for a company or something of that nature. We really shouldn't have anything more than 2-year degrees for most criminal justice occupations but now it's a de facto requirement just to be something like a dispatcher or file clerk for the police dept.
The overwhelming majority of dispatcher jobs only require a high school diploma and customer service experience. Some agencies might let you substitute the experience requirement with college credits in a related field, but you definitely do not need a degree to become a dispatcher.
Only two states require all peace officers to have an associate's degree, but it does not have to be in criminal justice. Nationally, most police departments don't even require an associate's degree (this includes larger departments). When a degree is required, rarely is a specific degree required. A 4-year degree in criminal justice has the most value in community supervision (parole and probation) where degrees are usually required and various social service jobs in correctional agencies. However, these jobs can be had with degrees in sociology, psychology, human services, social work, etc.
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Like I said before, the problem is not the liberal arts but college itself. We have a lot more college grads than ever before so the job situation declines in a reative sense for most graduates including the liberal arts ones. Where a history major might have gotten that police dispatcher job, now it goes to someone with a specific degree in criminal justice... because they have the luxury of so many graduates to choose from.
This is not true. See above. Not only have I worked as a law enforcement dispatcher, but I've read research articles on the occupation when doing a literature review for my own study. A degree is rarely required to become a dispatcher. Most dispatchers who have successfully gotten the job do not have a degree. What is most important is experience, performing well during the interview, and scoring high on the civil service exam if one is required.
I would say there are two reasons why someone should get a degree in criminal justice: interest in it as an academic subject or interest in one of the few positions that specifically require a CJ or related degree. CJ majors do not perform better during police academies than other majors (this was proven by two studies), and they probably don't perform better on the job than other majors.
Detectives don't need a degree in forensic science. They don't even need a degree. They don't need extensive scientific training. They are trained on the job. The ones working in the lab are usually not officers and are the ones with degrees in chemistry, biology, or forensic science. Often, detectives are not even the ones collecting the physical evidence; they have evidence technicians and crime scene investigators for that.
A detective or investigator (not including crime scene investigators) is a career progression position. You spend a few years on patrol and promote to detective/investigator either by seniority or a competitive process. Some departments might give extra points for having a degree, but rarely is a specific degree required.
Political science is not the best degree for getting into law school; it just happens to be the most popular major among aspiring lawyers. What is important for law school is a high GPA and LSAT score. Unfortunately, criminal justice majors tend to have low LSAT scores, but I think this has more to do with the type of person who is attracted to the major.
The overwhelming majority of dispatcher jobs only require a high school diploma and customer service experience. Some agencies might let you substitute the experience requirement with college credits in a related field, but you definitely do not need a degree to become a dispatcher.
Only two states require all peace officers to have an associate's degree, but it does not have to be in criminal justice. Nationally, most police departments don't even require an associate's degree (this includes larger departments). When a degree is required, rarely is a specific degree required. A 4-year degree in criminal justice has the most value in community supervision (parole and probation) where degrees are usually required and various social service jobs in correctional agencies. However, these jobs can be had with degrees in sociology, psychology, human services, social work, etc.
This is not true. See above. Not only have I worked as a law enforcement dispatcher, but I've read research articles on the occupation when doing a literature review for my own study. A degree is rarely required to become a dispatcher. Most dispatchers who have successfully gotten the job do not have a degree. What is most important is experience, performing well during the interview, and scoring high on the civil service exam if one is required.
I would say there are two reasons why someone should get a degree in criminal justice: interest in it as an academic subject or interest in one of the few positions that specifically require a CJ or related degree. CJ majors do not perform better during police academies than other majors (this was proven by two studies), and they probably don't perform better on the job than other majors.
Maybe they don't 'require' a 4 year degree, but many places expect at least a 2 year degree then to advance, you need a 4 year degree for police officers. No, the degree doesn't have to be in criminal justice, but that is a likely degree, much like biology or chemistry are the most popular degrees for people going on to medical school. Sure, you can get a job without a degree, but it's easier to get a a job with that degree.
Maybe they don't 'require' a 4 year degree, but many places expect at least a 2 year degree then to advance, you need a 4 year degree for police officers. No, the degree doesn't have to be in criminal justice, but that is a likely degree, much like biology or chemistry are the most popular degrees for people going on to medical school. Sure, you can get a job without a degree, but it's easier to get a a job with that degree.
You do not need a 4-year degree to become a police officer. Only 1% of police departments require a 4-year degree. It can vary by state, but you can expect about half of police officers to have a 4-year degree and about half of those would have completed the degree after becoming a police officer. Whether or not you need a degree to advance varies by department, but departments often use a scoring system that will take into consideration your education, seniority, performance reviews, interview, and test score.
Some police departments will give you a point or two on your civil service test for having a degree, but just having the degree doesn't really do much to make getting a job easier. Police departments tend to be very objective when it comes to hiring. The physical agility test is usually pass/fail; sometimes, they'll rank people by score. A degree won't help you there. Then, you have the written test. Applicants are often ranked based on their written test score if there are a limited number of openings. It's very common for departments to give 5 points for veterans' preference. Again, a degree won't do much for you there. Of the top scorers, they'll bring them in for an interview. This is the most subjective part of hiring. You will be graded based on your answers to the interview questions, not your degree.
I've worked for two law enforcement agencies in a law enforcement and a non-law enforcement position. I've been through the application process for corrections and police officer jobs. What most impressed them was my work experience in security, not my degrees. My work experience is what helped me answer the questions in a satisfactory manner.
The main reason why most police departments do not require a college degree is because they have not been meeting their recruiting goals in the past few years. They are afraid that increasing the educational requirements will reduce the number of qualified applicants. A couple of departments in Texas have dropped their college credit requirements in recent years.
I don't think liberal arts are useless, but they are deemed so because of the high unemployment associated with them. The fields are saturated. There is too much supply and not enough demand. Schools have made the degrees too easy to get and STEM degrees too hard to get. Just look at the discrepancy between the average Engineering GPA and average Liberal Arts.
I don't think liberal arts are useless, but they are deemed so because of the high unemployment associated with them. The fields are saturated. There is too much supply and not enough demand. Schools have made the degrees too easy to get and STEM degrees too hard to get. Just look at the discrepancy between the average Engineering GPA and average Liberal Arts.
I don't think comparing engineering vs. anything is fair.
Engineering is hard field that not everyone can do and furthermore, not everyone wants to do. In 2012 there were 1.8 million degrees awarded in all fields. That year, there were 83,000 engineering degrees awarded.
When you're in a field where jobs are in demand and the people that can do them are only 5% of all college graduates, of course that group is going to command higher salaries. I do think there's a problem in engineering in that so few women go into it. The national science organizations seem to be aware of it and trying to do something about it.
It's unfair again to compare engineering, a small field within science, to the "liberal arts" which is a blanket term encompassing more than a dozen disciplines.
In any case, given the stats I think it's a simple problem of too many college graduates in anything and too few jobs. If we increased the number engineering gradates by even as little as 10-20% - an extra 20,000 engineers per year the field would become saturated rapidly and their salaries would drop quickly. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/...t13_322.10.asp I would argue we don't need ANYWHERE near 1.8 million college graduates per year.
If you want to see what a society looks like when the students are obsessed with STEM and saturated with engineers and other STEM graduates who are under-paid, go to India.
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