July 13, 2000
CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA TO OFFER CRIMINAL JUSTICE DEGREE
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
The State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors has approved a new bachelor of science degree program in criminal justice at California University of Pennsylvania.
The new degree program is designed to help address the rising demand for criminal justice professionals. Students will receive training in the most recent developments in the field, including community-based policing and community-based corrections and in how to work with violent juvenile offenders.
The program will be delivered through a collaborative arrangement with the Community College of Beaver County, which offers an associate degree in criminal justice. California University will be responsible for the upper level courses. Discussions also are underway with Edinboro University of Pennsylvania for the sharing of courses in Edinboro’s criminal justice program through distance education and for internship supervision and the sharing of on-line library and audiovisual resources.
The demand for professionals in the field of criminal justice is increasing rapidly. Employment in the field in Pennsylvania is projected to increase to 17,200 by 2005, an increase of 50 percent from 11,600 corrections officers in 1994. Increasingly, police departments and other agencies that employ corrections officers are seeking persons who hold a bachelor’s degree.
Other occupations into which a criminal justice degree provides entry are criminal analysts, investigators, forensic scientists, counselors, probation officers and case workers.
Over the last year, the Board of Governors has approved four new graduate and 14 new undergraduate degree programs at the state-owned universities. All of the new programs were developed to address specific workforce needs. At the same time, 17 existing programs have been placed in moratorium, with no new students being enrolled, because of low demand.
The State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. Its 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. Nearly 350,000 System alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.
The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and the University Center for Southwest Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. The regional centers are part of the Educational Resources Group, which is responsible for coordinating statewide programming.