Associate Degree in Criminal Justice in Virginia

Updated September 21, 2026

Virginia offers criminal-justice-family associate degrees at 33 in-state colleges and universities, with 30 of them running the core Criminal Justice program specifically. Becoming a certified Virginia law enforcement officer means completing compulsory training at a Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS)-certified academy, passing the state certification exam, and completing field training, not simply holding a degree.

Virginia’s path to becoming a sworn law enforcement officer runs through the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS): compulsory minimum training at a DCJS-certified academy, the state law-enforcement certification exam, required field training, and your agency’s submission for certification. An associate degree isn’t part of that state-mandated sequence, but it’s a common path into several corrections and court-support roles, and it can strengthen your file wherever a department does weigh education.

Featured Programs:

Sponsored School(s)

Liberty University

Featured Program: Criminal Justice Online Degree Programs

Request Info

Purdue Global

Featured Program: AS in Criminal Justice; BS in Criminal Justice with concentrations in Forensic Psychology; Homeland Security; Law Enforcement; MS in Criminal Justice

Request Info

Walden University

Featured Program: BS in Criminal Justice, MS in Criminal Justice, PhD in Criminal Justice, Graduate Certificate in Criminal Justice

Request Info

Arizona State University - Online

Featured Program: Criminology and Criminal Justice, BS

Request Info

Rasmussen University

Featured Program: Criminal Justice Associate; Criminal Justice Leadership and Management Bachelor's Degree; Law Enforcement Associate; Law Enforcement Academic Certificate

Request Info

How Virginia Certifies Law Enforcement Officers

DCJS sets the floor for law enforcement certification statewide, but academy admission and agency hiring standards aren’t uniform. Each DCJS-certified academy sets its own admission requirements, and the agency that eventually hires you can add standards of its own on top of DCJS’s minimums.

Virginia does allow some pre-employment, self-sponsored academy training, where you attend before you’re hired by an agency. Whether a given academy accepts self-sponsored students is that academy’s own policy decision, and completing pre-employment training doesn’t guarantee an agency will hire you afterward.

Not every criminal justice role in Virginia follows this same pathway. Corrections and jail officers, and bailiffs and courtroom security deputies, are certified through their own separate DCJS processes, with compulsory and field-training requirements but, currently, no state certification exam. The exam applies specifically to law enforcement officer certification.

What a Virginia Criminal Justice Associate Degree Covers

Community college criminal justice programs in Virginia commonly run in the two-year range, though the exact length, credit total, and course sequence vary by school and by whether you attend full or part time. Confirm the current catalog directly with any program you’re considering rather than assuming a fixed statewide timeline.

Courses you’re likely to encounter in a Virginia program include subjects like:

• Survey of Criminal Justice
• Legal Evidence
• Constitutional Law for Justice Personnel
• Corrections and Community
• Criminology
• Juvenile Delinquency

Treat this as a sample of common coursework, not a fixed core. Curriculum varies by school, and some Virginia programs branch into law enforcement, corrections, administration of justice, forensic science, or protective services rather than a single generalist track. If a campus schedule doesn’t work for you, some Virginia schools also offer an online criminal justice degree option. Confirm what a specific online program actually covers before enrolling, since course content and sequencing vary by school even within the same degree title.

Paying for It

Program cost varies significantly by school, residency status, and whether you attend a community college or a four-year institution, so check each school’s current published tuition rate directly rather than relying on a single statewide figure.

One Virginia-specific award worth knowing about: the Virginia Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (VACLEA) College Scholarship Program offers awards of up to $1,000 based on need and merit, though it prioritizes dependents of employees at security or police departments of VACLEA-member institutions rather than criminal justice students generally. Confirm current eligibility and deadlines on VACLEA’s own page before applying. Our list of scholarships covers other awards open more broadly to criminal justice majors, with eligibility, amounts, and deadlines.

Where to Study: Virginia Schools Offering the Associate Degree

Federal education data shows 33 Virginia institutions offering an associate-level program somewhere in the criminal-justice-family CIP grouping, which spans Criminal Justice and Corrections along with adjacent fields like Legal Support Services, Fire Protection, Homeland Security, and Security Science and Technology. Of those 33, 30 offer the Criminal Justice and Corrections program specifically. The remaining three in the table below offer only an adjacent field, such as Legal Support Services, at the associate level, not a Criminal Justice program itself.

This is institution-level federal reporting, not a live program directory, and the underlying collection cycle can lag a school’s current catalog by a year or more. None of these institutions carries a distance-only classification overall, but that’s a whole-institution classification, not a statement about any single program’s delivery format. Confirm whether a specific Criminal Justice associate program is offered in-person, hybrid, or fully online directly with the school, along with current admission requirements and whether the program is still enrolling.

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.

Related Occupations and Wage Data in Virginia

Bailiffs, correctional officers, and patrol officers are three occupations that show up often in Virginia criminal justice career paths. The wages below describe everyone currently working in each occupation statewide, across all education, experience, and seniority levels, not an outcome tied specifically to an associate degree.

Bailiffs post a median of $62,290 a year in Virginia (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025). ProjectionsCentral projects 3.8% growth in the occupation through 2034. In Virginia, bailiffs and courtroom security deputies are certified through a separate DCJS pathway involving compulsory and field training, without the state law-enforcement exam.

Correctional officers and jailers post a median of $50,140 (BLS, May 2025). ProjectionsCentral projects a 4.6% decline in the occupation through 2034. Corrections and jail officer certification in Virginia runs through its own DCJS process, distinct from law enforcement certification, and currently has no state exam requirement.

Police and sheriff’s patrol officers post the highest median of the three, $65,870 (BLS, May 2025), with 7.9% projected growth through 2034 (ProjectionsCentral). This is the occupation certified through the full pathway described above: DCJS-certified academy training, the state law-enforcement certification exam, field training, and agency submission for certification.

May 2025 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary figures for Correctional Officers and Bailiffs and Police and Detectives. Long-term (2024-34) job growth projections from the US Department of Labor-sponsored resource, ProjectionsCentral. Figures reflect state-level data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed September 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Virginia police officers need a college degree to get certified?

No. Certification runs through DCJS: compulsory training at a DCJS-certified academy, the state law-enforcement certification exam, and field training, with your agency submitting you for certification. Any education requirement beyond that is set by the individual academy or hiring agency, not by a statewide degree rule.

Do corrections officers and bailiffs in Virginia take the same certification exam as police officers?

No. The state law-enforcement certification exam applies specifically to law enforcement officer certification. Corrections and jail officers, and bailiffs and courtroom security deputies, go through their own separate DCJS certification processes with compulsory and field-training requirements, but currently no state exam.

How long does an associate degree in criminal justice take in Virginia?

It varies by school and by whether you attend full-time or part-time. Community college programs commonly run around two years, but confirm the exact length and credit total with the specific program you’re considering rather than assuming a fixed statewide standard.

Can I transfer an associate degree into a bachelor’s program in Virginia?

It depends on the schools involved. Many Virginia community college credits transfer into four-year programs, but how much transfers, and whether it applies toward a criminal justice bachelor’s specifically, comes down to the articulation agreement between the two schools. Confirm that agreement before you enroll if a bachelor’s is your goal.

Can I start police academy training in Virginia before an agency hires me?

In some cases. Virginia permits pre-employment, self-sponsored academy training, but individual DCJS-certified academies decide whether they accept self-sponsored students, and completing that training doesn’t guarantee an agency will hire you afterward.

Key Takeaways

• Certification runs through DCJS, not a degree requirement – Becoming a certified Virginia law enforcement officer means completing DCJS academy training, the state certification exam, and field training. A degree isn’t part of that state-mandated sequence.
• Corrections and bailiff roles follow separate pathways – Corrections and jail officers, and bailiffs and courtroom security deputies, are certified through their own DCJS processes without the state law-enforcement exam.
• 33 institutions, but only 30 offer Criminal Justice specifically – Of the 33 Virginia schools offering an associate program in the broader criminal-justice-family CIP grouping, 30 offer Criminal Justice and Corrections itself, per federal education data.
• Patrol officers show the strongest growth outlook – ProjectionsCentral projects 7.9% growth for Virginia patrol officers through 2034, ahead of bailiffs and corrections officers.
• Confirm transfer agreements before enrolling – Whether an associate degree transfers into a bachelor’s program depends on the specific agreement between the two schools, not a statewide guarantee.

Worried about paying for the degree? Our scholarships guide lists awards built for criminal justice majors, with eligibility, amounts, and deadlines.

Read: Scholarships for Criminal Justice Majors and Grad Students

Looking for a Criminal Justice Associate Degree in Another State?

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