<p>I am debating on which college/university to attend to receive a MS in Criminal Justice and have landed on Liberty University's doorstep. They are extremely appealing to me because they are a regionally accredited, non-profit school that has my degree of choice AND offers a substantial discount to active duty military personnel on tuition. However, I do have a few concerns: I understand that my military career after retirement (especially my MOS and clearances) will provide me with a tremendous amount of credibility and experience but will having a graduate degree from Liberty provide any type of "ummph" to my resume - simply put, how is Liberty viewed from a hiring standpoint? Are stand and federal law enforcement agencies going to "look down" on me because my Master's was granted by Liberty? ...and two: I understand they are religious, but exactly HOW religious are they? Does this subtract at all any of the academic rigour one would expect to have in graduate level classes? And are they open to any type of debate (how "religious" can my course possibly get in the field of criminal justice?!). Many thanks to all those who provide me with any assistance, guidance, or recommendations!</p>
<p>Liberty doesn’t seem to have a great reputation on this website.</p>
<p>Personally, I would use GI Bill money and go to my in-state public.</p>
<p>Liberty has a very specific religious focus. So much so, that if you will be working in a field (or in a part of the country) where that focus is sought, Liberty will be of benefit to you, but if you are working in a field where that focus is not useful, Liberty will be a negative item on your resume. Yes, you read that correctly.</p>
<p>To give yourself a broader set of options for your future, choose a different institution for your studies. Check out [Accredited</a> Online College | University of Maryland University College](<a href=“http://www.umuc.edu/]Accredited”>http://www.umuc.edu/) and [Penn</a> State | Online Degrees, Online Courses, and Online Certificates offered by Penn State](<a href=“http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/]Penn”>http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/) for well-recognized programs that are designed for current (and recent) military personnel. Your own home state public U probably has good options as well.</p>
<p>I’ll admit, I have a strong anti-Liberty bias. </p>
<p>That having been acknowledged, I want to give happymom props for the elegantly neutral way she assessed the way Liberty’s name resonates with people. I think she’s exactly right: Liberty’s name will open certain doors to its graduates, and bar other doors tightly.</p>
<p>I understand what has been said; however, at the end of the day, I am not getting a “prestigeous” degree, if that makes any sense. I simply want a criminal justice degree to be more competitive when I transition to a state or federal law enforcement agency. From what I have been told, police and federal agencies “don’t give a rat’s ass” as to where a degree came from, only that you have one. And really, like I said, Liberty’s tuition is as much as my military Tuition Assistance, so no out of pocket expenses. But, I was just wanting to make sure that, like said earlier, if I do get a degree from Liberty, it does more good than bad. On a side note, UMUC does not offer a Master’s in criminal justice and their tuition is $458 a credit hour; way over the amount paid by Tuition Assistance.</p>
<p>It’s definitley a win because it doesn’t go over the TA cap, why not get as many credits that you think can transfer and go from there when you retire.</p>
<p>Hmmmmmm, not a bad idea!! Thanks for that!</p>
<p>I understand what has been said; however, at the end of the day, I am not getting a “prestigeous” degree, if that makes any sense. I simply want a criminal justice degree to be more competitive when I transition to a state or federal law enforcement agency. From what I have been told, police and federal agencies “don’t give a rat’s ass” as to where a degree came from, only that you have one. And really, like I said, Liberty’s tuition is as much as my military Tuition Assistance, so no out of pocket expenses. But, I was just wanting to make sure that, like said earlier, if I do get a degree from Liberty, it does more good than bad. On a side note, UMUC does not offer a Master’s in criminal justice and their tuition is $458 a credit hour; way over the amount paid by Tuition Assistance.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s true that police and federal agencies don’t give a rat’s ass as to where you go. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure that for federal agencies, at least, appointments are made competitively and having a well-reputed degree means a lot (although your veterans benefits may outweigh the effects of a negatively-received degree).</p>
<p>To answer your questions directly:</p>
<p>-I wouldn’t say that Liberty would add any “oomph” to your degree.
-Some people at some agencies will look down on you with a Liberty degree. It depends on the person. Liberty doesn’t have a reputation as a rigorous institution.
-Liberty is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia, and specifically Jerry Falwell’s church (and now Jerry Falwell, Jr.'s church). Falwell was the president when alive and now his son is the president, and so the university pretty much follows the Falwell church’s religious beliefs and teachings. In many areas of teaching, they go against established science in the field - most notably in biology, as they teach young Earth creationism in addition to evolution in their classrooms and teach that creationism is a better explanation for life on Earth than evolution. They also revoked all official recognition from all political clubs on campus because they wanted to revoke recognition from the Democratic Club (claiming that the party’s platform was incompatible with their brand of Christianity), but couldn’t see a way to do that alone without harming their reputation, so they simply removed all recognition from any political club.</p>
<p>So that’s how religious they are. How much that will affect your own degree is hard to tell. They say that the goal of the program is “to train present and future leaders in the field of criminal justice who will bring a solid Christian worldview to the development and execution of criminal justice policy, and the leadership and management of criminal justice organizations.” The course plan (<a href=“http://www.liberty.edu/media/1270/MS-Criminal-Justice-Public-Administration-2013.pdf[/url]”>http://www.liberty.edu/media/1270/MS-Criminal-Justice-Public-Administration-2013.pdf</a>) seems to have pretty normal criminal justice classes, so the religious bent of those courses isn’t immediately apparent.</p>
<p>I would recommend that you look at profiles of people who do what you want to do (you can find them on LinkedIn) and see what kinds of schools they come from. Do they all come from prestigious places, state flagships, directional states, a mix? You may want to set up some informational interviews with people who are already in the job that you want. Ask them what they think of your plan and whether they would hire, or think their boss would hire, someone with a Liberty degree.</p>
<p>Also, transferring credits in a master’s program is not at all like transferring credit in undergrad. Graduate programs are much more specialized and much more picky about what they accept - if they accept anything at all. There is no guarantee that any of your credit from Liberty would be recognized or applied toward a graduate degree at, say, Penn State.</p>
<p>Before seriously considering Liberty, I would suggest that you look up their student code of conduct, if it’s still available on the internet. The code of conduct applies to all students – undergraduates, grad students, on-campus, off-campus – and it’s incredibly stringent.</p>