Best Criminal Justice Schools in Texas (2027)

The Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice is a 120 credit hour degree that builds a foundation in criminal law, ethics, contemporary criminal justice topics and criminological theory, with applied coursework and internships, and students complete a capstone, an internship or a study away or abroad seminar. Tarleton lists on-campus, hybrid and 100% online delivery for the B.S., and separately names Stephenville, Texas; Fort Worth, Texas; Waco, Texas; and online as its campuses and locations, though the university notes that some general education or core courses may not be available online through Tarleton. Students can add a Crime Analysis or Cyber Security certificate, or minors in Criminal Law, Homeland Security and Conservation Law Enforcement.

Admission to the B.S. follows Tarleton's general undergraduate guidelines, which include a completed application for undergraduate admission and an official high school transcript or GED certificate. The BAAS in Criminal Justice Administration is built for working professionals and transfer students with workforce credits: Tarleton says students can receive up to 33 semester credit hours for documented professional training, that the program is offered fully online, and that most students finish in two to three years depending on credit awarded. Eligible peace officers may qualify for the Texas Peace Officer Exemption on criminal justice courses.

Both degrees require a minimum of 120 semester credit hours. The B.S. builds a foundation in criminological theories and criminal justice processes, with courses such as Crime, Law, and Society; The Police System; The Criminal Court System; The Correctional System; Research Methods in Criminal Justice; and Criminology. It requires at least 36 upper-level criminal justice hours (18 of them at UHD), an ethics course and three writing-intensive courses, and students can earn course credit through field experience with an approved criminal justice agency. UHD lists the B.S. at UHD-Downtown, UHD-Northwest and online, and a four-year degree plan maps the path for students who want to finish in four years; UHD describes its online bachelor's options as degree completion programs for students who have completed core coursework at another university or community college.

First-year students who meet UHD's freshman admission criteria are declared B.S. majors on admission, and transfer students need a transfer GPA of 2.0 or higher. The B.A.A.S. is open only to students who have completed a criminal justice-related A.A.S. at a community or junior college or the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement's Basic Peace Officer Certification: a related A.A.S. brings 36 hours of transfer credit, the certification brings 24, and higher Texas peace officer certification levels add more, up to a maximum of 36 hours. UHD says the B.A.A.S. courses and schedules are geared toward working professionals, and it points students without either credential, and anyone headed for law school or graduate school, to the B.S., whose criminological theory, research methods and statistics coursework prepares students for graduate study.

The degree requires 120 semester credit hours, 57 of them in the major. TWU says the curriculum covers modern legal systems, correctional practices, national and local governments, current sociological issues, crime in contemporary and historical contexts, social research and statistics, and ethical considerations, and the catalog's course offerings include Crime in America, Sociology of Deviance, Constitutional Law, Correctional Systems and Practices, Comparative Criminal Justice, and Women, Crime, and Justice. Practical work experience comes through internships and the University's Cooperative Education program, though no more than three semester credit hours of internship credit count toward the major, and no grade lower than a C counts toward it. TWU's program list shows the degree offered in Denton, Texas.

TWU's freshman applicants include students who have graduated or will graduate from high school, have completed a homeschooling program or hold a GED certificate of completion, and every applicant must meet the general undergraduate admission requirements. Transfer students are welcome to complete the major at TWU: the catalog says the curriculum is structured to ease transfer of credit from all community college programs in Texas and that all required courses for the major can now be completed online within a two-year period. A minor is optional, and the division also offers a minor in criminal justice.

Students take core courses that include rhetoric and composition, a statistics course (Elementary Statistical Analysis or Statistical Literacy) and Introduction to the Criminal Justice System, plus a required public speaking course and 8 hours of a single modern or classical language, then a criminal justice specialization of Introduction to Law Enforcement, Theoretical Criminology, Juvenile Justice Systems, Criminal Justice Statistics (or Applied Statistics for Social Research), Introduction to Research Methods in Criminology and Criminal Justice (or Social Research), The American Judicial System, and Community Corrections or Institutional Corrections. Students then select 30 hours of electives, at least 21 of them criminology and criminal justice courses, from options that include Cybercrime, Digital Forensics, Crime Scene Investigation, Victimology, Human Trafficking, Terrorism and Mass Violence and an Internship in Criminal Justice.

Students admitted from high school, or transfer students with less than 30 hours of transferable college credit, start as CRCJ-intended majors and declare the major after completing at least 15 hours of University core courses with a minimum 2.0 GPA and earning at least a 2.0 GPA combined in Introduction to the Criminal Justice System and the required statistics course; transfer students with 30 or more hours declare it on similar GPA and course criteria. UTA also offers a minor in Forensic Applications of Science and Technology designed for CRCJ students pursuing non-laboratory forensic science work such as crime scene investigation.

The Criminal Justice and Public Safety A.A.S. requires 60 credit hours, with courses such as Introduction to Criminal Justice, Crime in America, Introduction to Homeland Security, Court Systems and Practices, Fundamentals of Criminal Law and Ethics in Criminal Justice, and it ends with a cooperative education course or Contemporary Issues in Criminal Justice as the capstone. The Texas Direct Associate of Arts with a Field of Study in Criminal Justice also requires 60 credit hours, pairing the core curriculum with Court Systems and Practices, Fundamentals of Criminal Law, Correctional Systems and Practices, and Police Systems and Practices. Dallas College lists the Texas Direct A.A. among its 100% online awards, and the catalog also lists it at Dallas College campuses.

Dallas College has an open-door admissions policy, and first-time students can apply as beginning freshmen with a high school diploma or a GED. The A.A.S. is written for people with criminal justice backgrounds as well as recent high school graduates preparing for law enforcement, corrections, probation and parole, or private security work, and graduates of a Dallas College law enforcement academy who pass the Texas Basic Peace Officer Licensing Examination can use it as a bridge into the A.A.S. The Texas Direct A.A. is the route for students who plan to transfer.

The Associate of Arts with Field of Study totals 60 credit hours on the college's recommended academic plan and places more emphasis on criminal justice courses than the traditional Associate of Arts, with courses including Introduction to Criminal Justice, Fundamentals of Criminal Law, Police Systems & Practices, Court Systems & Practices and Correctional Systems & Practices. It can be completed 100% online, with online and in-person options also available, and transfers to Texas public universities offering bachelor's degrees in criminal justice. The Associate of Applied Science in Law Enforcement Technology, also 60 credit hours, is taught primarily through hands-on, in-person instruction, and its plan places the Basic Peace Officer courses in the second semester of the second year, with enrollment in that semester contingent upon approval.

Both degrees require a high school diploma or equivalent and college readiness testing (TSI). Law Enforcement Technology students must also meet Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) requirements for admission, including a FAST criminal history check and FBI fingerprinting and background investigation, and Angelina says students who complete the Basic Peace Officer courses earn a Level 1 Certificate and can sit for the TCOLE Basic Peace Officer State Exam. Licensed Texas peace officers who have passed the state licensure test can receive 23 credit hours toward the Law Enforcement Technology degree.

Both plans total 60 credit hours and share Introduction to Criminal Justice, Court Systems and Practices, Crime in America, Fundamentals of Criminal Law, Ethics in Criminal Justice, Police Systems and Practices and Correctional Systems and Practices, along with composition, mathematics, sociology, federal government and a criminal justice elective whose options include an internship. The general plan adds Legal Aspects of Law Enforcement, Juvenile Justice System, Criminal Investigation and Child Abuse: Prevention and Investigation; the Corrections Specialization adds Legal Aspects of Corrections, Probation and Parole, Community Resources in Corrections and Rights of Prisoners.

Central Texas College admits anyone who has graduated from high school (including a home school program) or earned a GED or high school equivalency certificate. The Protective Services department says it follows the common course transfer core curriculum in criminal justice and holds articulation agreements with several high schools and universities in Texas, and the catalog maps a separate Criminal Justice Field of Study whose directed electives the general academic institutions accept from transferring students.