General Studies Paralegal studies

[dfrecore]

Do not get a criminal justice degree! It has little to do with law. CJ is for law enforcement, corrections, community supervision, and human services. It has little benefit in the legal field unless you want to only focus on helping the destitute in criminal law. CJ is a social science.

If you want to become a paralegal, complete a certificate program. If you want to go to law school, complete a bachelor's degree in anything. Political science is the most common degree among law students, but that's due to self-selection. In other words, it just so happens that political science majors are most interested in law school; it doesn't improve your chances of getting into law school. Those who score the highest on the LSAT tend to have majored in something that required strong analytical skills, such as physics or philosophy.

You should major in something that will lead to a career you will like or can tolerate just in case you change your mind or can't get into law school.

Note: CJ is one of the worst majors for law school because of the low LSAT scores and law schools' low opinions of the academic rigor of CJ programs. I wrote a research paper on this.

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If you find yourself wanting a law-related degree, even though it is neither required nor recommended for law school, search for legal studies programs. Legal studies degree programs are more numerous than paralegal studies degree programs.

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As of January 1, 2020, ABA approves 100% online paralegal programs. I made a thread in the general distance

[quote pid='345282' dateline='1629676788']
Sorry,  I don't mean to steal the OP's thread.

May I ask your opinion? My child wants to be a private investigator/ detective. Not law enforcement. I thought she should pursue a BACJ-TESU. Dual enrollment in CC offered some paralegal courses. I thought working as a paralegal would help her learn the system, do research/ interview, that kind of stuff. And then move up to PI with some experience. Upon further research, I found out that 6 particular courses allow her to take the paralegal Bar exam after she finishes her BACJ. So she is taking those paralegal courses as a highschool junior. The plan is to graduate high school, finish up with TESU, then do paralegal exam. Does it sound to you like we are on the right track for her end goal, PI? TIA
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I would not get the BACJ at TESU, it's much too expensive, as you can't get it entirely with alt-credit.  Instead, I would look for more Dual Enrollment courses in CJ, trying to get some UL if possible.  And if you want/need a CJ degree, I think you're better off waiting for her to be old enough for UMPI, or else going to a school that will take some ACE credit, and allowing 90cr of transfer.  Here are a few I know about that cost <$12k for the residency-portion using discounts if available):

Franklin University is $398/cr, they give a 10% discount if you take 4 SL courses, and they accept 94cr for transfer including ACE, D grades, NA schools, and they have 3+1 programs with 237 CC's in 30 states

SNHU is $320/cr, and they accept 90cr for transfer including ACE

UMGC is $300/cr, they offer a 10% discount if you bring in 4 SL courses, or a 25% discount if you bring in 1 OD course; they have a max transfer policy of 70cr from CC/Alt-credit combined + 20cr from a 4yr school (so max 90cr), but they accept 90cr of transfer from Study.com (under a partnership agreement)

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THIS INFO HASN'T BEEN CHECKED IN A WHILE, SO I'M GOING BASED ON WHAT I KNOW FROM THE LAST TIME I CHECKED WITH THESE SCHOOLS - PLEASE VERIFY THIS BEFORE MAKING ANY DECISIONS!!