What is the point of a CJ degree?

[TNrecruit]

Ok, let me throw this one at you guys. I have a BA in Administration of Justice and a minor in Psychology. I also have 4 years active duty military experience, but my GPA is nothing spectacular its like a 2.4. Am I in trouble, does that mean my degree is worth less than someone who has no experience but has a 3.0??? Some insight would be great, thanks.

Experience will always be better than a GPA. A GPA tells someone that you know how to retain information and repeat it, but being out in the work force with related experience is something you don't learn in school.
I finished with around a 2.7 GPA, hardly impressive. I applied for the Secret Service and they called me and had me filling out paperwork. It wasn't because of my GPA, it was because I had been investigating check fraud for 2 years at a retailer. For some reason I told them I was going to try local policing for a few years, starting to think that was a dumb decision.

So and so cop, said a CJ degree is worthless, he didn't learn anything til he went to the acadamy and was done with FTO!

Very true. My CJUS degree didn't prepare me for being a police officer. I learned most of it during FTO and academy law classes. Get your degree in something else that you enjoy!

[Paul554]

My sister is a dentist, she says Med School was worthless, she really learned everything during her internship when she was done!

My cousin is a Lawyer, he said law school was worthless, he didnt learn anything about the law til he worked at his company for a few years!

So and so cop, said a CJ degree is worthless, he didn't learn anything til he went to the acadamy and was done with FTO!

Notice a trend? The first two are ture and the third one is true with a lot of people who are cops. Bottom line is NO DEGREE really prepares you any better for the world and the job your doing, it just gives you a small foundation to build off of. Remember though any degree has its benifits and nowadays most federal and state jobs just require A DEGREE not a specific one. And as always real world experience seems to trump academic experience any day of the week.

[173rd_the_Herd]

Ok, let me throw this one at you guys. I have a BA in Administration of Justice and a minor in Psychology. I also have 4 years active duty military experience, but my GPA is nothing spectacular its like a 2.4. Am I in trouble, does that mean my degree is worth less than someone who has no experience but has a 3.0??? Some insight would be great, thanks.

[Dr. Peebody]

depends what you want to do.......i think CJ is good if your planning on getting a law degree....

if you want to be a cop, you'll need credits, and CJ will fill the criteria...however its not going to help you get a job in LE so i always advise against a CJ degree....credits are credits so might as well get a degree in something you can use other places

I took CJ because i found it easy, luckily i ended up becoming interested in LE, so it worked out....helped in the academy too, because it was all stuff i had seen before

[nobodyjr]

What is the point of a CJ degree?

To give the football players a gimmie degree so they don't have to work hard at school work.

[ArkansasFan24]

Perhaps we should make a sticky somewhere for this question. It seems to come up more often than anything else.

[K9Tom]

The point to having a CJ degree or working towards one is so you can tell the cops that stopped you that you know the law and how to do the job. Really though, in my state, any degree will meet the hiring requirements for most departments. I took some CJ classes and did not really see a DIRECT connection to street work. Most of what you will learn for this job happens in FTO and on the street through experience. If you like the CJ classes you are taking, keep taking them. It's your money and your time, take what interests you. If CJ is boring you, take something else. If you think there is a chance you won't make it on the job, take a backup.

[Wentwest]

Get a more generalized degree than CJ. A degree proves you can drag/work your way through something for 2 or 4 years and finish it.

It also proves you advance others by throwing your money into that other bottomless pit we call education. (The other is health care). You will have proudly contributed to the numerous careers that support a college. Be proud!!

[Sgt. Slaughter]

Getting a degree in anything is better than not having a degree.

Not always.

What is the point of a CJ degree?

To make money for the college. Colleges do a good job selling these programs to youngsters who've watched COPS all their lives. They're told that they'll be more competitive with a CJ degree and that's only partly true. But, of course they believe them and sign up for the full load of classes and the college says cha-CHING!!! I have yet to see any department advertise a requirement of employment is to have a CJ degree.

However, some people feel the programs they attended are good. Some people feel they wasted 4 years of their life chasing that particular piece of paper. I've also not seen anyone objectively evaluate different CJ programs. Probably because it's not possible.

TNrecruit is a prime example of why I tell people NOT to get CJ degrees. Good luck to you in your new career, brother.

[TNrecruit]

I have a Criminology degree and I am a police officer. If you can stand it, get a degree in something other than this field. The fact that you have a degree will help you get hired, and it will help you find a new job if you are injured/fired and out of police work.
I have only been a police officer for a year and I am already thinking about swapping careers. I love every minute of it and my car rarely sits still more than 10 minutes, but I don't know if I want to do this for 20+ years. I would really like to make more money and sometimes the 8-4 jobs look pretty appealing.
With that said, there are different jobs that will take a CJUS degree. Corporate Security and consultant jobs, and I think some alarm system techs make pretty good money. Just my opinion.

[westside popo]

Get a degree in what interests you and get a BA / BS if possible.
BTW a CJ degree is not "worthless" (I use it all the time in LE) and it is usefull outside LE.
You would learn that if you went to a school with an excellent CJ program. There is a lot more to CJ than just LE!

[10-97UPD]

It's interesting that in so many other states you can get any degree you want and then apply for LE positions. I have a degree in Business Administration with well over 60 credits of college, and still I [U]have[U] to get a degree in Law Enforcement just to be able to goto our college skills program (we don't have a state academy) and even then after everything you still have to get P.O.S.T certified. As far as having a Business Degree, I completely agree with you about how crappy business was; I had only found that out once I graduated and actually moved into a corporate world. It took me 2 months to figure out I had spent all my money on a stupid degree.

I guess its one of those things where you have to get an eye on what you want to do pretty early in life so you dont find out the hard way later. I know what you are saying...I look at other states and see that soome Police Depts accept over the counter applications. Thats unheard of in these parts. Just keep working hard and it will pay off. Good Luck

[FeelinMN]

It's interesting that in so many other states you can get any degree you want and then apply for LE positions. I have a degree in Business Administration with well over 60 credits of college, and still I [U]have[U] to get a degree in Law Enforcement just to be able to goto our college skills program (we don't have a state academy) and even then after everything you still have to get P.O.S.T certified. As far as having a Business Degree, I completely agree with you about how crappy business was; I had only found that out once I graduated and actually moved into a corporate world. It took me 2 months to figure out I had spent all my money on a stupid degree.

It depends on where you are applying for a job and what requirements you need to meet. Here in NY most agencies require 60 college credits period. Your civil service score is the ticket for an interview and your transcripts must show you have met the college requirements. You can have a degree/credits in basket weaving and get hired as long as you meet the college credit requirement. I have a Bachelors degree in business. I didnt plan on working in the LE feild when I was in college. I had the mentality that "money makes the world go round." That route didnt pan out and I lucked out and got in LE. I at least have a back up plan if my LE career ends.

One word of advice...since you are already in school stay in school. I have friends who got the the requied credits for LE jobs, got hired and quit school. A couple are just credits shy of a degree and claim they will go back to finish school. They wont. Get it done and it is over with. Once you are out its hard to go back.

[10-97UPD]

I like what 10-97 said. If your in school might as well stay and finish, although I would change majors. He has a business degree so if the LEO field didn't work out he has a fall back plan. If you get a CJ degree and it doesn't work then what? All good LEO's always have a backup plan

Thank You for the support. It took a bit of work to get in my position but Im glad I did it. Anyone who asks my advice is gonna get what I posted above. As discussed earlier in this thread....the word "worthless". Nothing is more worthless than having 90 college credits and no degree to show for it. If you are going to put time in effort into ANYTHING..make sure it is worth your while no matter what it is.

[MTAM]

I like what 10-97 said. If your in school might as well stay and finish, although I would change majors. He has a business degree so if the LEO field didn't work out he has a fall back plan. If you get a CJ degree and it doesn't work then what? All good LEO's always have a backup plan