Corrections practitioners across the country can now further their education without ever having to leave home.  A new online program being offered by Bergen County, N.J., Community College (BCC) enables both students and professionals to get an associates degree in correctional studies without ever stepping foot on the school's New Jersey campus.

"The entire process can be done right online," said Ralph Rojas, a criminal justice professor.  "You can apply to the college [and] you can actually register for the courses.  You can do all of this right on the Internet."

The two-year degree program is designed for several kinds of students.

"The program is geared towards practitioners who are looking to get promoted as well as new students who are going into corrections," Rojas said.

According to Rojas, New Jersey's Corrections Commissioner, Devon Brown,  promotes education for officers there and he believes that trend will spread nationally.

"He wants all of his corrections officers as well as staff to go to college and graduate," Rojas said, pointing out that, in other areas of law enforcement, like policing, higher education for officers became a priority years ago.

"It's only a matter of time before corrections jumps on that same bandwagon," Rojas said.  "It's only a matter of time before they are going to start requiring that you have either an associates degree or 60 [college] credits [to get into corrections]."

Even now, though, having some type of degree is important for corrections professionals who want to move up, Rojas said.

"It's only a matter of time before these people realize they have to have a degree if they want to get promoted," Rojas said.

When that time comes, he added, this program is a good option for people seeking to expand their education, no matter where they live.

"We want to bring in as many people from all over the country because the school is an accredited school," said Rojas said.

For corrections officers living in New Jersey, the school offers them an incentive to enroll in the program.  Officers who graduate from the corrections academy in New Jersey are granted 15 credits and are exempted from having to take certain courses, like an introductory corrections class and a health and fitness course.

Other courses in corrections that they are required to take focus on topics like correctional law, juvenile justice, criminology and correctional administration.  Additionally, students in the program are required to take basic courses in math and English.

Each completed course earns students three credits and here is no deadline for them to finish the program; they can take courses at their own pace, Rojas said. 

Right now, all of the students enrolled in the program are from New Jersey, but Rojas hopes that the program will expand to include students from all around the country because of its online format.

"It's a growing enrollment," Rojas said.  "It's fairly new so it takes time to promote it and put it out to the public's eyes."

But Rojas hopes that once people find out about the program, they will utilize it to further their education and improve their chances of climbing up the corrections ladder.

"We are taking the first step to introduce a two-year degree program so that people can begin this higher learning," he said.

Resources:

For more information about BCC's program, contact Rojas at (201) 493-3510 or rrojas@bergen.edu

BCC www.bergen.edu