Best Criminal Justice Schools in Ohio (2027)

The degree requires 120 credit hours. Courses in the plan of study include Introduction to Criminal Justice, Corrections in America, Introduction to Criminology, Policing in America and Criminal Procedure, alongside criminal justice electives and upper-level criminal justice electives, and each student adds an approved minor, certificate or set of courses from an approved discipline as a focus area. All majors complete an unpaid field placement in a criminal justice agency as seniors. The online version is 100% online, with courses in the spring, summer and fall semesters, and the program page of the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services gives the degree's location as the Uptown Campus.

Applicants coming directly from high school need a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.7 for the online program, and transfer students who were not admissible from high school need 24 semester hours earned and at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA. Online students may start in the spring, summer or fall semester, and UC says students typically take four years to finish. Certificates offered alongside the major include Correctional Rehabilitation, Crime and Intelligence Analysis, and Forensic Populations, and a criminal justice minor is also available.

The Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Criminal Justice offers two degree plans, the general criminal justice pathway or a specialization in forensic investigations, and its curriculum draws on government, law, psychology and sociology as well as criminal justice. Sample courses include Law Enforcement in American Society, Investigations, Introduction to Forensic Science, Digital Crime and Criminal Justice, Criminal Courts, Juvenile Justice Subsystems and Institutional and Community Corrections. Criminal justice courses are open only to criminal justice majors, and every student completes 400 internship hours with an approved criminal justice organization, with placements available across the U.S.

BGSU also offers the degree as a 100% online program with 7-week courses, designed as a degree-completion pathway for students who hold an associate degree in criminal justice or a related field and work in criminal justice, social services or the military. Online classes are asynchronous, at least 30 credit hours must be completed at BGSU, and working students may be able to apply prior training or current employment toward the internship requirement.

The criminal justice major requires 30 semester hours at the 3000-4000 level, with three courses from a core list that includes American Constitutional Law, Civil Liberties, Criminology, Police and Society, Punishment and Society, and Police Legitimacy and Community Engagement, plus courses chosen across professional communications, ethics and understanding communities, legal and social issues, statistical reasoning, research methods and behavioral theory. Ohio University requires a minimum of 120 semester hours for a bachelor's degree and says this program can be completed within that requirement; a student who holds a qualifying associate degree may earn the degree by completing a minimum of 32 additional hours of Ohio University work. The major is available on the Athens, Ohio campus, on all of Ohio University's regional campuses and online through OHIO Online, where coursework is asynchronous and students can start in fall, spring or summer semesters.

Admission to the major requires a completed applied associate degree in a criminal justice related technical field (the online program asks for a conferred associate degree of 60 or more semester hours or 90 or more quarter hours) and a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher, plus a separate online application to the program. New students without such a degree may enter Ohio University as pre-criminal justice majors and work toward the Law Enforcement Technology associate degree and the bachelor's requirements at the same time. Ohio University says the program is intentionally designed to be completed in two years, though students on regional campuses may need longer, and that nearly all criminal justice majors will be required to complete online coursework.

Offered at Miami's Regional locations, the Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice studies crime, justice, punishment and corrections, policing and the legal system within a liberal arts education. The bulletin sets program requirements of 48 semester hours minimum: a core that includes Introduction to the Criminal Justice Studies, Policing in America, Criminal Justice Field Experience, Law and Courts in America, Introduction to Criminal Behavior, Corrections in America, Criminal Procedure, Applied Research Methods in Criminal Justice, Capstone: Seminar in Criminal Justice and Statistics (or Computers and Business), plus 15 hours or more of criminal justice courses beyond the core. Miami says the degree can be completed fully online or with a mix of online and face-to-face courses, primarily on the campus in Hamilton, Ohio.

Miami University Regionals has an open admission policy, and a high school graduate or GED holder who has never attended another college applies as a first-time college student; students who attended a community college or another university after high school apply as transfer students. The program page says the online degree helps working professionals, transfer students and degree completers build knowledge and skills for their careers, and Miami's prior learning options let students apply for college credit for learning gained through life, military or work experience. Ohio residents taking Miami Online courses pay the same in-state tuition rate as in-person students at Miami Regionals, and out-of-state students enrolled only in undergraduate online courses can receive a reduced per-credit-hour rate.

Each track is an Associate of Applied Science that the University of Cincinnati lists at 61 total credits over two years. Law Enforcement students take courses such as Survey of Criminal Procedures, Survey of Criminal Law, Policing in America, Crime Scene Investigation, Patrol Techniques and Community Oriented Policing; the Corrections track includes Corrections in America, Legal Issues in Corrections and Motivational Interviewing I; and the Police Academy track's second year centers on Basic Police Academy 1 and Basic Police Academy 2, at 12 credits each. Academy courses are typically held Monday through Friday evenings over two semesters at the Clermont College Police Academy on the UC Clermont campus in Batavia, Ohio.

Each track is open to students with a high school diploma or GED, and the Law Enforcement and Police Academy track pages say first-year students take English and mathematics placement tests unless their ACT or SAT scores exempt them. The Police Academy track adds a medical exam, a notarized statement of understanding, two letters of reference, a valid driver's license and proof of insurance, a fingerprint card, a personal interview and a physical fitness test, and applicants convicted of a felony or domestic violence, or with two or more DUI convictions, cannot be admitted to the academy. UC Clermont says its police academy is approved by the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission, and students can also enroll in the academy without being in the criminal justice degree program.

The 64-credit-hour Associate of Applied Science in Criminal Justice follows a two-year full-time schedule and can also be completed part time; its courses include Introduction to Criminal Justice, Introduction to Private Security, Criminology, Introduction to Corrections, Gangs and Terrorism, Criminal Investigations, Drugs and Narcotics, Cyber Crime for Law Enforcement, Criminalistics, Administrative Report Writing, and Criminal and Constitutional Law, with internship preparation and an internship, alongside English Composition I, Introduction to Psychology and Statistics. The Criminal Justice Probation Officer Option, also 64 credit hours, has courses such as Probation & Parole, Introduction to Addiction Studies and Introduction to Social Welfare, and MTC lists mastering evidence-based probation practices and preparing for state certification in the Ohio Risk Assessment System (ORAS) among its outcomes. MTC's current catalog also lists a 61-credit-hour Law Enforcement Associate of Technical Studies; the catalog says it includes courses that are required to become employed as a peace officer in Ohio, where employment also requires completing the state-mandated training and passing the certification examination sponsored by the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy (OPOTA).

Marion Technical College has an open-door admission policy for high school graduates and those who have completed a high school equivalency test, and the criminal justice programs ask for a final high school transcript or GED results plus proof of college readiness, such as a placement test score. MTC lists most classes for the Associate of Applied Science and the Probation Officer Option as on campus. The college says students who complete its Peace Officer Basic Training Academy receive a 30-hour law enforcement certificate and may apply a portion of those training credits toward the Associate of Applied Science in Criminal Justice; academy courses meet Monday through Friday evenings and occasionally on weekends, and the academy requires a physical examination and background investigation.

The Criminal Justice Science/Law Enforcement degree, an Associate of Applied Science of 62-63 credit hours, pairs English Composition I, General Psychology, Introduction to Sociology and Criminology with a criminal justice block that includes Constitutional Law and Evidentiary Procedures, Criminal Law, Policing, Homeland Security Issues and Administration, Ethics and Professionalism in Criminal Justice and Computer Crime, finishing with an internship or seminar or with Basic Peace Officer Training I and II. The Criminal Justice Science/Corrections degree, 60 credit hours, combines criminal justice concepts, theories and laws with practical techniques for work in corrections, and its curriculum includes general education requirements, theory and practice courses, and requirements in ethics and law. Sinclair's department says both degrees are 100% fully online, and each contains embedded certificates that are awarded automatically when their requirements are met.

The law enforcement degree is designed for students new to law enforcement and for working officers who want to add to their knowledge and skills or prepare for civil service promotion exams, and Sinclair lists current articulation agreements for it with Wright State, Miami University and Ohio University. The department's corrections and law enforcement certificates feed the degrees: Sinclair says their courses can be applied toward the matching Associate of Applied Science.