Criminal Justice Colleges in New Jersey: Associate Degree Programs

Updated September 18, 2026

New Jersey has 21 colleges offering an associate degree specifically in criminal justice, most of them public community colleges, per federal education data. Protective service occupations statewide report a median annual wage of $54,480 as of May 2025, per BLS data. Police and corrections officers must also complete New Jersey Police Training Commission certification, which the degree doesn’t replace.

An associate degree in criminal justice is a two-year academic credential. It is not, by itself, a hiring qualification or a training certification, and what it opens up depends heavily on the specific occupation and agency you’re targeting. Here’s what New Jersey’s programs cover, what the state’s actual training requirements look like, and where the wage data comes from.

Featured Programs:

Criminal Justice Associate Programs in New Jersey

An associate degree is a shorter academic path than a bachelor’s. Program length and credit requirements vary by school, so confirm the specifics with each program directly rather than assuming a statewide standard.

Course requirements also vary school to school. These are examples of courses that appear in some New Jersey criminal justice associate programs, not a fixed statewide curriculum:

Criminal Law
Corrections
Constitutional Liberties and Rights
Principles of Sociology
Criminology
Race and Ethnic Relations

Program costs vary by school and by residency status. The College Board’s tuition-trends data can help you compare general cost patterns, but confirm the current published tuition directly with each school before you enroll. If cost is a factor, the criminal justice scholarships list is a good place to start.

Several New Jersey schools in this same federal program family also list separate offerings in legal support services, homeland security, or fire protection, per Department of Education data. That reflects separate program listings at the same institution, not necessarily a concentration within the criminal justice associate degree itself, so check with the school directly about how its programs are structured.

New Jersey’s Actual Training and Hiring Pathway

An associate degree does not replace New Jersey’s state training requirements. Municipal and county police officers generally must complete a basic training course approved by the Police Training Commission (PTC), which operates under the Division of Criminal Justice in the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, unless a waiver or an equivalency for prior training applies. Corrections officers go through a separate PTC-certified curriculum and separate job classifications. A degree does not stand in for either.

Hiring itself works on two tracks that are easy to conflate. Individual agencies set their own hiring standards on top of the state training requirement. Separately, many entry-level police and corrections titles in New Jersey are filled through the Civil Service Commission’s Law Enforcement Examination process, which is distinct from PTC academy certification. There is no single statewide entrance exam that covers every agency and every role, so confirm the actual process with the specific department, county, or state agency you’re applying to.

Related occupations connected to this degree include municipal or county police officer, correctional officer, court support roles, and private security. Education, training, certification, and hiring requirements differ by occupation and by employer, so treat the degree as a foundation, not a credential that qualifies you for a specific job on its own.

What Does Criminal Justice Pay in New Jersey?

As of May 2025, protective service occupations in New Jersey, a Bureau of Labor Statistics category covering police, corrections, and security roles together, report a median annual wage of $54,480, per the New Jersey OEWS state wage table. That figure describes the occupational category as a whole. It is not a graduate outcome tied to holding an associate degree, and BLS wage data doesn’t establish how pay changes with experience within that group.

Individual occupations inside that category, such as police officers, correctional officers, bailiffs, or security guards, carry substantially different median wages from each other and from the category-wide figure. If you want pay data for a specific role, look at that occupation’s own BLS listing rather than the broad category number.

May 2025 US Bureau of Labor Statistics wage figures for New Jersey protective service occupations contained here reflect state-level data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed September 2026.

Where to Study Criminal Justice in New Jersey

Twenty-one New Jersey institutions offer an associate-level program specifically in the Criminal Justice and Corrections field, per U.S. Department of Education data (a 22nd, Centenary University, appears in the same broader federal program family but lists only a legal-support-services program, not criminal justice itself). Rowan College of South Jersey’s Cumberland and Gloucester campuses are reported as two separate institutions under federal data and are listed separately below for that reason. Confirm current enrollment, format, and admission requirements directly with any school before applying, since federal reporting can lag a school’s current catalog.

School	City	Type
Atlantic Cape Community College	Mays Landing	Public
Bergen Community College	Paramus	Public
Berkeley College-Woodland Park	Woodland Park	Private for-profit
Brookdale Community College	Lincroft	Public
Camden County College	Blackwood	Public
County College of Morris	Randolph	Public
Essex County College	Newark	Public
Hudson County Community College	Jersey City	Public
Mercer County Community College	West Windsor	Public
Middlesex College	Edison	Public
Ocean County College	Toms River	Public
Passaic County Community College	Paterson	Public
Raritan Valley Community College	Branchburg	Public
Rowan College at Burlington County	Mount Laurel	Public
Rowan College of South Jersey-Cumberland Campus	Vineland	Public
Rowan College of South Jersey-Gloucester Campus	Sewell	Public
Salem Community College	Carneys Point	Public
Strayer University-New Jersey	Piscataway	Private for-profit
Sussex County Community College	Newton	Public
UCNJ Union College of Union County	Cranford	Public
Warren County Community College	Washington	Public

School and program data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, institution file May 2025 and field-of-study file April 2025. Data accessed September 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a criminal justice associate degree qualify me to become a police officer in New Jersey?

No, not by itself. New Jersey requires municipal and county police officers to complete Police Training Commission-approved training separately from any degree, unless a waiver or training equivalency applies. The degree can be a useful foundation, but it doesn’t replace the state’s certification requirements.

What can I do with an associate degree in criminal justice in New Jersey?

Related occupations include municipal or county police officer, correctional officer, court support roles, and private security. Education, training, certification, and hiring requirements vary by occupation and by employer, so confirm specifics with the agency you’re targeting.

How much do criminal justice jobs pay in New Jersey?

New Jersey’s protective service occupations, a BLS category spanning police, corrections, and security roles, reported a median annual wage of $54,480 as of May 2025. Individual roles within that category have their own, often substantially different, wage figures.

Which New Jersey schools offer criminal justice associate programs?

Twenty-one New Jersey institutions offer an associate-level program specifically in criminal justice, per federal education data, most of them public community colleges. See the “Where to Study” table above, and confirm current program details with each school directly.

Key Takeaways

21 New Jersey schools offer a criminal justice associate degree specifically – mostly public community colleges, per federal education data
The May 2025 BLS median for New Jersey’s protective service occupations is $54,480 – a category-wide figure, not tied to degree level or experience
Police and corrections officers go through separate, state-certified training – the Police Training Commission, not the degree, sets that requirement
Hiring runs on two separate tracks – agency-specific standards plus, in many cases, New Jersey Civil Service Commission examination processes

Want to know what training actually looks like? The scholarships guide is a good next stop if cost is part of your decision.

Read: Scholarships for Criminal Justice Majors and Grad Students

Want the bigger picture? Read the full guide to Associate Degrees in Criminal Justice.