Checks and Caveats: First and foremost, check the national and regional accreditation of any distance-learning program you’re considering. If that information isn’t clear and positive on their web pages, call and talk with a counselor. If their accreditation is solid, they’ll be anxious to tell you about it. Get spun up on accreditation at www.elearners. com. While you’re there, click on Social Sciences, then Criminal Justice. They list over 140 CJ degree programs. Got enough choices? Second, when you get into the details of a program, make sure that once you lock into a curriculum, your graduation requirements cannot change while your program is ongoing. Even if the institution drops a class a year after you complete it, your earned units should still apply to your degree requirements. We don’t endorse individual institutions or degree programs, but here are some suggested guidelines: Look at colleges and universities which had good reputations for providing quality education at conventional “brick and mortar” facilities before online learning came on the scene. Having an established history and tradition to uphold creates stability. And, online programs shouldn’t be a recent, lowbudget add-on for them. Since degrees can cost as much as a new truck, ask yourself if you want to invest in a ride with an “all new!” engine and drive train. Let ‘em get the bugs worked out first. Go with proven performance. Look at student, alumni and faculty/staff reviews of the institution. Sure, you’ll find extremes at both ends — love letters and hatchet jobs — but “the meat’s in the middle,” and look for details: specific examples rather than general statements. Also try Googling “complaints about (fill in the name) university.” Many of the complaints are pretty pathetic, but you’re already skilled in sniffing BS, right? Look for complaints that sound like you wrote them, because they’re probably valid. The Troy University System, headquartered in Troy, Alabama, started as a teacher’s school in 1887, and now has operations across the US and internationally. Online learning is a major component, and non-traditional, military, and public service personnel make up a significant slice of the student body. Troy’s “global campus” approach has polished their distance-learning procedures, making it easier for you whether you live 50 miles or 5,000 miles away. They offer both bachelor and master’s degree programs in Criminal Justice. Founded in 1965, Herzing University isn’t “Ivy League old,” but the fact that it began as a computer programming school Hot Pursuit Bachelor’s Forget the piles of paper – put it all on a flashstick. ol is bout scho member a h; you’ve been re u o y ll If a yea oks, then musty bo ol for a while… o out of sch Continued on page 37 WWW.AMERICANCOPMAGAZINE.COM 23
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