Best Criminal Justice Schools in Mississippi (2027)

The University of Mississippi's Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice requires a minimum of 120 total credit hours and lets students study law enforcement, corrections, or homeland security and emergency management alongside the administration of justice. The required criminal justice courses are Introduction to Criminal Justice, Criminal Law, Ethics in Legal Studies, a Criminal Justice Internship and a Colloquium in Criminal Justice, and each major then completes an emphasis in Corrections, Homeland Security or Law Enforcement. The Corrections emphasis covers managing prisoners and supervising parolees, probationers and juveniles, while the Law Enforcement emphasis covers patrol methods, criminal investigation, intelligence-led policing and community policing.

The university says the degree is designed both as a four-year major and as an affiliated program for students transferring from community colleges. The program page gives its duration as 8 semesters. Majors must keep a minimum grade of 2.5 on all criminal justice coursework and complete a minor or second major, and students admitted to the major can apply to an Accelerated Master's Degree Program that begins graduate credit before the bachelor's is finished.

The University of Southern Mississippi's Criminal Justice BA takes 120 hours to graduate. The major area of study includes Introduction to Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice Theory, Criminal Law, Methods of Criminal Justice Research and Planning, Criminal Justice Ethics, and Organization and Management of Criminal Justice, along with Criminal Justice Systems Electives drawn from Police Methods and Organization, Introduction to Modern Corrections and Introduction to Juvenile Justice. The degree plan places its major-area capstone in the senior year, and every major also completes a minor in a separate academic discipline.

Majors interested in a legal career can follow the university's 3+3 law pathway, which reverse transfers credits earned at a participating law school into the degree, and the minor requirement is waived for students who complete that pathway. Criminal justice majors must earn a grade of C or better in designated criminal justice courses, and the school strongly encourages them to consider an internship.

Jackson State University's Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice requires a total of 122 credit hours, and JSU Online offers it as an online degree program. The program teaches students to think critically as they learn about institutions and processes, and to identify the value choices and ethical considerations involved in decision making in the administration of justice and justice systems in a democratic society.

The program page lists freshman, transfer and international student admission requirements, and the university's freshman admissions page sets its own application deadlines for JSUOnline students. The department expects B.S. Criminal Justice graduates to be able to apply criminological perspectives to specific situations, review and analyze research related to criminal justice, and describe the process of a criminal trial in detail.

The 45-credit-hour major (36 to 39 hours of core coursework and 6 to 9 hours of electives) sits inside a degree of at least 120 credit hours that also covers general education and other university requirements. Catalog courses in the major include Introduction to Criminal Justice, Foundations and Theories of Criminal Justice, Introduction to Corrections, Introduction to Police Administration, Criminal Investigation, Juvenile Justice, Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice Research, and Evidence, Search and Seizure, along with a criminal justice internship and a senior capstone seminar on critical issues in criminal justice, and every course in the major requires a grade of C or better. The department hosts the program at the Tradition Campus and says the undergraduate major is open to students of both campuses, including Hattiesburg, Mississippi, through online course offerings and varied scheduling of onsite classes.

Applicants meet the university's undergraduate admission requirements; first-year students send an official ACT, SAT or CLT score and a final high school transcript. No more than half of the 120 hours can come from a community or junior college, and the last 30 hours must be earned at William Carey. The program also offers special provisions for students with prior learning from recognized law enforcement academies.

The degree requires at least 120 credits, including general education, and its curriculum covers law enforcement, criminal justice, forensic science and criminology. The major is made up of core courses plus a concentration; core courses include Introduction to Criminal Justice Policy and Practice, Organization and Philosophy of Corrections, Introduction to Criminological Theory, Criminal Law, Applied Criminal Investigation, Victimology, Global Terrorism, Family Violence, a Criminal Justice Practicum and The Judicial Process. The Criminal Justice concentration adds Psychology and Criminal Justice, Juvenile Delinquency, Criminal Investigations, Drugs and Society, and Criminal Forensics, along with electives from the department’s criminal justice and criminology courses, while the Forensic Science concentration introduces crime scene investigation, forensic biology, forensic chemistry and laboratory procedures. The program offers learning options that include a web-enhanced program and part-time study.

Applicants must meet Delta State’s undergraduate admission requirements, and the program sets no additional ones; freshman applicants qualify through the College Prep Curriculum with a minimum high school GPA, with ACT or SAT scores required under some options. Applications are accepted year round, and a grade below C in a required major course must be repeated. Delta State also offers a Master of Science in Criminal Justice and Criminology.

Students in a university-related emphasis earn the Associate of Arts by completing the college's general education core of 33 to 35 semester hours, which includes English Composition I and II, laboratory science, social/behavioral science, fine arts and humanities, plus specific courses related to their planned university major. Criminal justice courses count in the core's social/behavioral science area, and the catalog's criminal justice courses include Introduction to Criminal Justice, Police Administration & Organization, Introduction to Corrections, Criminology, Criminal Law, Criminal Investigation, Criminal Court Practice and Juvenile Justice.

EMCC's academic students take classes that lead to the Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degree and generally plan to transfer that work toward a bachelor's degree. First-time students submit an official high school transcript showing a Mississippi high school diploma, or an official GED transcript with satisfactory scores. The college follows Mississippi's articulation agreement between its community colleges and senior colleges and tells students to consult the catalog of the institution they plan to transfer to.

Criminal Justice is an area of study within Hinds' Associate of Arts degree: it meets the general education requirements and adds criminal justice courses such as Introduction to Criminal Justice, Police Administration and Organization, Juvenile Justice and Introduction to Corrections, with Criminology and Police Operations also in the sample curriculum. The sample curriculum's other courses include English Composition I and II, Quantitative Reasoning, Principles of Biology I and II with labs, Introduction to Sociology, General Psychology, Public Speaking I, American National Government, American (U.S.) History I and II, American Literature I and Social Problems. Hinds lists the program at its Jackson Campus, Rankin Campus and Raymond Campus in Mississippi and online, with face-to-face and online delivery, and its eLearning page says students can earn the Associate of Arts degree 100% online and lists Criminal Justice under the heading Earn Your Degree 100% Online.

Hinds has an open-door admissions policy that gives every high school diploma holder general admission with no minimum GPA or test score requirement. The college says the courses build a foundation for a bachelor's degree and recommends the area of study to students who plan to attend law school; students transferring to a Mississippi public university are asked to check course transferability with an advisor under the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning/Community College Articulation Agreement.