Police lights

Are you looking to start a new career in law enforcement or improve your current skills and advance the career you already have? Faulkner University, a private Christian liberal arts school, offers an accelerated adult program for earning a Bachelor of Criminal Justice that can be completed online or partially on-site at our campuses in Montgomery, Birmingham, Mobile, and Huntsville, Alabama. Whether you’re hoping to improve your current opportunities or seek a new career in law enforcement, corrections, private security, or law, our accelerated criminal justice degree will give you the skills and knowledge you need.

Experienced Criminal Justice Instructors and an Ethics-Based Curriculum

Police tape and vehicles at nightThe Faulkner University criminal justice faculty is comprised of knowledgeable experts in their respective fields. They have extensive, real-world experience in criminal justice. They don’t just teach theory; they teach with the expertise their hands-on experience has given them.

These experienced instructors have teamed up with an advisory board comprised of other criminal justice practitioners and administrators. Together, they’ve hand-selected a broad-based and ethics-focused curriculum that focuses on law enforcement, private security, corrections, and pre-law.

An Accelerated Criminal Justice Degree for Adult Learners

At Faulkner University, we understand the challenges that face adult students. Between your career, your family, and other obligations, it’s often impossible to devote several years to focus on school alone. That’s why we offer our Bachelor of Criminal Justice in an accelerated format that takes one year (three semesters) to complete. (Core coursework must already be completed to finish the program within this timeframe). The courses can be taken entirely online or using our hybrid learning model, which allows students to take some courses online and others in-person at our campus.

Students must be 23 years of age or older and have already completed 66 approved credit hours of core curriculum coursework at either Faulkner University or another regionally accredited college.

The 54 credits included in the accelerated criminal justice degree plan are divided into six modules, each lasting eight weeks. Each module is repeated once every year, and students can enter the program at the beginning of any module.

Module 6 (June 26 - Aug 20)

  • BCJ 3309 First Line Supervision
  • BCJ 4302 Courts
  • BCJ 4305 Special Issues**

Module 1* (August 21 - October 15)

  • BCJ 3312 CJ & WWW
  • BCJ 4301 Criminalistics**
  • BCJ 4303 CJ Ethics

Module 2 (October 16 - December 10)

  • BCJ 2331 Criminal Law
  • BCJ 3301 Criminology
  • BCJ 4307 Research Methods**

Module 3 (January 8 - March 3)

  • BCJ 3309 Terrorism
  • BCJ 3310 Corrections
  • BCJ 4306 Criminal Behavior Analysis**

Module 4 (March 4 - April 28)

  • BCJ 3304 Juvenile Justice
  • BCJ 3314 Community Based Policing
  • BCJ 4303 Interview and Interrogation**

Module 5 (April 29 - June 23)

  • BCJ 3305 Constitutional Law**
  • BCJ 3306 Private Security
  • BCJ 3324 Crisis Management

**May be offered in a classroom setting when and where available.

Academic credit is granted for law enforcement and corrections minimum standards certification.

Get an Accelerated Criminal Justice Degree at Faulkner University

A Bachelor of Criminal Justice from Faulkner University will give you the foundation and credentials you need to advance your career or enter into the exciting and rewarding fields of law enforcement, corrections, and private security, or to continue to law school. Our accelerated criminal justice degree can broaden your horizons and open new opportunities for careers, and best of all, you can study from home, completing the equivalent of two years of coursework in just a single year. Contact us to explore admission requirements and tuition info or to find out more about criminal justice studies online and in MontgomeryMobileBirmingham, and Huntsville.

Entrance Requirements

The one year Bachelor of Criminal Justice curriculum is designed to accommodate the working adult who has completed the 66 semester hours of core curriculum listed below.

Subject/Subject Includes

Hours

Christian Literacy

12 hours
Four lower level courses in Bible (BI 1311; BI 1314; BI 2302 and one BI elective.) Students who transfer in core curriculum requirements for the BCJ program can substitute 12 hours in general education courses for this requirement. Students who take courses at Faulkner University to satisfy the core curriculum requirements for the BCJ program must take a Bible course within every 15 hours to satisfy the University’s Christian Literacy requirement.

Cultural Heritage Literacy

3 hours
One course in humanities or history will satisfy this requirement.

Mathematical and Scientific Literacy

9 hours
Mathematics Requirement (MH 1300 College Math or higher) – 3hrs
Natural or Physical Science Requirement – 3hrs
Mathematics or Natural or Physical Science – 3hrs

Information and Communication Literacy

9 hours
Composition Requirement
EH 1301 English Composition I – 3hrs
EH 1302 English Composition II – 3hrs
Technology – Computer Applications (CA 1302) – 3hrs

Personal and Social Literacy

12 hours
Social Sciences: Four courses in any social science area such as history, political science, economics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, library science, geography, etc.

Electives

21 hours

Core Curriculum Total

66 hours

Program Requirements

Module 1 (Every Fall)

  • BCJ 4301 Criminalistics – 3 Hours
  • BCJ 4304 CJ Ethics – 3 Hours
  • BCJ 3312 CJ & Web – 3 Hours

Module 2 (Every Fall)

  • BCJ 4307 Research Methods – 3 Hours
  • BCJ 2331 Criminal Law – 3 Hours
  • BCJ 3301 Criminology – 3 Hours

Module 3 (Every Spring)

  • BCJ 4306 Criminal Behavior Analysis – 3 Hours
  • BCJ 3310 Corrections – 3 Hours
  • BCJ 3308 Terrorism – 3 Hours

Module 4 (Every Spring)

  • BCJ 4303 Interview and Interrogation – 3 Hours
  • BCJ 3313 Cultural Diversity – 3 Hours
  • BCJ 3304 Juvenile Justice – 3 Hours

Module 5 (Every Summer)

  • BCJ 3305 Constitutional Law – 3 Hours
  • BCJ 3306 Private Security – 3 Hours
  • BCJ 3324 Crisis Management – 3 Hours

Module 6 (Every Summer)

  • BCJ 4305 Special Issues – 3 Hours
  • BCJ 3309 First Line Supervision – 3 Hours
  • BCJ 4302 Courts – 3 Hours

Total – 54 Hours

* Courses are offered in both a Hybrid (Classroom/Online) format or fully Online (eBCJ) format based on student enrollment at specific locations.

** Students are allowed to enter the program at the beginning of each module (January, March, April, June, August and October) – completing the rotation from the point of entry.

*** Classes are offered once per year.