Time and Credits
How Many Years Is a Criminal Justice Degree?
How many years is a criminal justice degree? Two for an associate degree and four for a bachelor’s at a full load, because 123 of the 181 associate degrees in this site’s program profiles that print a credit total ask for 60 credits, and 209 of 227 bachelor’s degrees ask for 120. A master’s adds one to five years at the fastest pace its school states, and transfer credit can cut a bachelor’s to as little as one year.
How Many Years Is a Criminal Justice Degree at Each Level?
The credit total sets the clock. This site profiles 577 criminal justice programs from each school’s own pages, and at every degree level one total dominates. The figures below count each degree the profiles name in the unit its school prints, so a quarter-calendar degree is kept apart from the rest.
| Degree | Most common total | Degrees at that total | Lowest to highest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Associate degree | 60 credits | 123 of 181 | 60 to 90 |
| Associate degree, quarter calendar | 90 quarter credits | 4 of 5 | 90 to 91 |
| Bachelor’s degree | 120 credits | 209 of 227 | 60 to 128 |
| Bachelor’s degree, quarter calendar | 180 quarter credits | 8 of 9 | 135 to 180 |
| Master’s degree | 36 credits | 14 of 28 | 30 to 38 |
| Master’s degree, quarter calendar | 48 quarter credits | 2 of 3 | 45 to 48 |
| Doctorate | 60 credits | 8 of 18 | 36 to 90 |
The spread around those figures is narrow. 171 of the 181 associate totals fall between 60 and 64 credits, and 220 of the 227 bachelor’s totals between 120 and 124. An associate total as high as 90 can be the same two years counted in quarters: Green River College describes its transfer degree as “Duration 90 credits, 6 quarters, 2 years.”
Why 60 and 120 Credits Mean Two and Four Years
The arithmetic is the schools’ own. Youngstown State University’s catalog says of its bachelor’s degree, “This degree can be earned in eight semesters if students average 15 hours per semester.” Eight semesters at 15 credits is 120 credits, and the same load finishes an associate degree’s 60 credits in four semesters, two academic years. That is the full answer to how long a criminal justice degree takes when every fall and spring term carries 15 credits.
Full-time status starts lower. Red Rocks Community College’s catalog draws the line this way:
Note: Full-time students are those who take 12 or more credits in a semester; part-time students are those who take fewer than 12 credits in a semester.
Red Rocks Community College catalog
At 12 credits a term, a full-time student needs five semesters for an associate degree and ten for a bachelor’s: two and a half years and five years of fall and spring terms, while still counted as full time. Quarter calendars land in the same place by a different count. Seattle University’s catalog gives the equivalence as “Minimum Credits to Graduate: 120 semester credits or 180 quarter credits”, and 8 of the 9 profiled bachelor’s degrees counted in quarter credits ask for 180.
What the Schools Say Their Degrees Take
Of the 86 schools whose associate pages state a length, 74 say two years or four semesters. Walters State Community College puts a condition on its figure: “The degree can be completed in two years outside of any needed learning support classes.” Four schools state 18 months, among them Lake Area Technical College, New England Institute of Technology and Rasmussen University-Minnesota, and four state five semesters or terms. Lake Area Technical College adds a faster route for officers already on the job: “For currently serving officers, Lake Area Tech offers a Virtual Academy pathway to complete an Associate of Applied Science degree in Law Enforcement in as little as nine months.” Georgia Military College tells online students, “With our term schedule, you could finish your entire associate’s degree in under a year and a half.”
At the bachelor’s level, 47 of the 66 schools that state a length say four years or eight semesters, eight say about three years and 12 say two years or less, nine of those for students who transfer in credits. A school that prints more than one length appears in every row that fits, so the rows can add up to more schools than the 86 associate and 66 bachelor’s schools counted.
| Stated length | Schools | Schools that say so |
|---|---|---|
| Associate: two years, or four semesters or terms | 74 | Amarillo College, American Public University System, Arkansas State University-Beebe and 71 more |
| Associate: 18 months | 4 | Lake Area Technical College, New England Institute of Technology, Rasmussen University-Minnesota and 1 more |
| Associate: five semesters or terms | 4 | George C Wallace Community College-Dothan, George C Wallace State Community College-Hanceville, Southern Crescent Technical College and 1 more |
| Associate: another length | 5 | Angelina College (1-2 years), Bossier Parish Community College (twelve months (three semesters) in the accelerated online format), Chemeketa Community College (7-term), Cochise County Community College District (3 Semesters) and Indiana Wesleyan University-National & Global (approximately 26-27 months) |
| Bachelor’s: a range, such as two to four years | 4 | Indiana Wesleyan University-National & Global, Norwich University, University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus and 1 more |
| Bachelor’s: four years, or eight semesters | 47 | American Public University System, Chadron State College, Columbus State University and 44 more |
| Bachelor’s: about three years | 8 | Concordia University-Saint Paul, Herzing University-Madison, Johnson & Wales University-Providence and 5 more |
| Bachelor’s: two years or less | 12 | Bowling Green State University, California State University-Long Beach, California State University-Sacramento and 9 more |
| Bachelor’s: another length | 1 | Husson University (five-year) |
| Master’s: one year or less | 11 | Albany State University, Faulkner University, Fitchburg State University and 8 more |
| Master’s: 13 to 18 months | 7 | McNeese State University, Salem State University, Salve Regina University and 4 more |
| Master’s: about two years | 6 | Columbus State University, Concordia University-Saint Paul, Sam Houston State University and 3 more |
| Master’s: another length | 2 | CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice (two (2) years full-time or four (4) years part-time) and Florida State University (within 2 years for a full-time student; 3 to 5 years part time) |
Finishing Sooner: Three-Year Degrees and Eight-Week Courses
A shorter bachelor’s comes in two forms. One cuts the credits. Five profiled schools offer a three-year bachelor’s with a lower total than the usual 120 credits to students starting from high school: Concordia University-Saint Paul (90 credits), Johnson & Wales University-Providence (90 credits), National American University-Rapid City (135 quarter credits), Rivier University (90 credits) and New England Institute of Technology (135 to 140 quarter credits). Rivier University sets its two degrees side by side: “students in the three-year applied bachelor’s degree program carry a regular semester load of classes during the fall and spring semesters for a total of 90 credits over three years (six semesters) compared to 120 credits over four years (eight semesters).”
Johnson & Wales University-Providence says the same of its own: “Our new Career-Focused Degree Program lets you complete your degree in just three years with a streamlined, 90-credit curriculum.” New England Institute of Technology describes its career-focused degrees this way: “These new Career-Focused Bachelor’s degree programs consist of three academic years, 135-140 quarter credit hours, (equivalent to 90 semester credits) that are delivered over two calendar years (24 months).” The same page adds a condition: “Baccalaureate degrees of fewer than 120 credits, such as NEIT’s reduced credit Career-Focused programs, are not guaranteed to be accepted by all employers.”
The other form keeps a full-length degree and speeds the plan or the calendar. The University of Northern Iowa says, “This major is offered as part of UNI’s Three-Year Pathway initiative, giving motivated students the opportunity to complete their bachelor’s degree in just three years by following a structured plan of study.” Monroe University says, “It takes just eight (8) semesters to complete our online BS in Criminal Justice. If studied in consecutive semesters on our accelerated three (3)-semester academic calendar, it can take less than three (3) years to finish your degree.”
Online programs mostly shorten the course, not the credit total. Of the 65 online programs whose pages state a course or term length, 29 use eight-week courses and 51 run courses of eight weeks or less, down to four weeks at National University. Five keep courses of 15 or 16 weeks. Of the 35 online programs that state how often a student can start, 23 let students begin six or more times a year, six of them every month, so a new student does not wait for fall or spring. The accelerated programs ranking lists the online programs whose pages call the format accelerated or state a shorter finish.
How Many Years Is a Criminal Justice Degree If You Transfer Credits?
Credits you already hold change the answer most. 26 of the 305 profiled bachelor’s programs include a degree-completion route that admits only students who bring college credit or an associate degree, and the 11 of those routes that state a length give one to two years. CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice states the arithmetic for its online completion degree: “You can earn your degree in two years if you earn 30 credits per academic year.” San Diego State University’s online completion program says, “Once admitted, you can graduate by completing between 48-66 units within 15 months (ten eight-week modules with breaks). You’ll complete three courses in each of the ten eight-week modules.”
Police academy and peace officer training can count as credit too. The pages of 33 online programs give college credit for a completed academy or POST training, 15 of them with a figure. The largest is at Tarleton State University: Students can receive up to 33 semester credit hours for documented training through TCOLE, corrections or criminal justice related military service. The police officers ranking puts those programs in order.
How Long a Graduate Criminal Justice Degree Takes
A master’s degree adds one to five years at the fastest pace its school states. 14 of the 28 master’s degrees that print a total ask for 36 credits, with totals from 30 to 38. Of the 25 schools that state a length, 11 say one year or less, seven say 13 to 18 months and six about two years. Sam Houston State University’s catalog says of its Master of Science in Criminal Justice, “Courses are sequenced so that students can complete the degree in no more than two years, including summer semesters, but may be able to do so in less time.” Fitchburg State University gives both ends: “While you can complete the online master’s in Criminal Justice in one year, you may take up to six years to finish the program.” The online master’s rankings list the programs you can finish remotely.
A doctorate is the longest and the least uniform. 18 profiled doctorates print a credit total, eight of them 60, with totals from 36 to 90. The six schools that state a length run from 20-32 months for Keiser University-Ft Lauderdale’s Doctor of Criminal Justice to four to five years for Northeastern University’s PhD in Criminology & Justice Policy. The degree a student starts with moves the figure, as Northeastern University explains for its own:
It is expected that students will be able to complete the program in four to five years, and students entering with a master's degree will be able to complete the program in three to five years.
Northeastern University graduate catalog
The PhD rankings cover the research doctorates.
Common Questions
How Many Years Is a Criminal Justice Degree Online?
Is a Criminal Justice Degree 2 or 4 Years?
Can You Get a Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree in 3 Years?
How Long Does a Master’s in Criminal Justice Take?
Sources for the Figures in This Post
- Program names, credit counts, formats, entry requirements and published prices: each school's own program pages, read between October 7, 2026 and October 14, 2026.
- School pages quoted in this post, read on October 7, 2026, October 8, 2026 and October 14, 2026: Red Rocks Community College, Youngstown State University, Walters State Community College, Green River College, Seattle University, Georgia Military College, Lake Area Technical College, Rivier University, Johnson & Wales University-Providence, New England Institute of Technology, University of Northern Iowa, Monroe University, CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice, San Diego State University, Sam Houston State University, Fitchburg State University and Northeastern University.
- Course and term lengths, start dates, accelerated formats and academy credit: the pages of the online programs on this site’s national lists, read on October 8, 2026.