Concentration in Law Enforcement Leadership

The Criminal Justice program prepares students for a career in law enforcement or corrections. The degree program provides students with knowledge in the areas of U.S. law enforcement, criminology, criminal investigation and community relations. Available areas of study help students focus on juvenile issues, causes of crime and criminal behavior, corrections and incarceration, investigative procedures and/or forensics and investigative techniques. A concentration is also available providing students greater knowledge in the specific area of interest. The Criminal Justice program provides the student with an understanding of the United States Criminal justice system. The Curriculum offers a useful educational experience and academic skills for students who wish to pursue graduate study or possibly a career as a Police or Corrections Officer, Criminal Investigator, Probation Officer, Customs Officer, Secret Service Officer or Special Agent.

Upon completion of the Criminal Justice program, graduates will be able to:

Criminal Justice Administration and Organization
1. Recognize and explain the major international, U.S., and localized law enforcement systems and organization.
2. Describe and analyze the political and public administrative aspects of law enforcement organizations.

Criminal Justice Theories and Concepts
1. Communicate and apply the major theories and concepts of crime, criminal justice, and criminology.
2. Conduct research associated with criminal justice and criminology theories.

Criminal Justice Operations, Practices, and Processes
1. Assess the operations, practices, and processes associated with leading standards of evidence and law.

All undergraduate students are required to take the MAPP (Measure of Academic Proficiency and Progress) test, a nationally sponsored test by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). The focus of the MAPP is on the academic skills developed through general education or core courses, rather than on the knowledge acquired about the subjects taught in the core. The exam is designed to test college-level reading, college-level writing, critical thinking and mathematics within the context of the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Questions do not ask for recall of specific information but, instead, test a student's ability to read carefully, make judgments about clarity, correctness, organization of material, think critically about issues and arguments, and work effectively with mathematics.

The MAPP results shown below are from Criminal Justice students from 2006-2009.

MAPP
Measures of Academic Proficiency and Progress
September 2006 - February 2009
Demographic Analysis Report
Criminal Justice

Number of students tested: 396
Number of students included in these statistics: 396

Aggregate MAPP data can be viewed at the following web address. http://www.apus.edu/community-scholars/learning-outcomes-assessment/reports/academic-profile-results/index.htm

All undergraduate Criminal Justice students are required to take the Major Field Test (MFT) in Criminal Justice. The test, nationally sponsored by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), consists of 150 multiple-choice questions. Most of the questions require knowledge of specific information about the criminal justice system. The test draws on the student's critical thinking ability to: a) interpret data, b) apply concepts and ideas; and c) analyze data, theories and relationships both deductively and inductively. The range of scores on this test are 120 to 200. The institutional mean for all schools nationwide that administered the test between February 2005 -- June 2008 is 150.9.

See MFT test results from APUS Criminal Justice students who took the test between Setember 2006 and February 2009. Average test results were higher than the national average for all but one month. Additional MFT results can be viewed at the following address: http://www.apus.edu/community-scholars/learning-outcomes-assessment/reports/major-field-test-results/mft-criminal-justice-htm.