The career path most taken for those with a Masters in Criminology is teaching.  Almost all colleges and universities make it mandatory for a professor to have a masters in their respective area of expertise.   Upon receipt of a degree, it should not be too difficult to start teaching introductory criminology courses at the local community college for prospective police officers and detectives.  These courses are crucial to creating a police force that practices compassion when protecting and serving their community.

There is also pursuing a career as a criminologist.  This category can cover a wide variety of jobs with a radical potential salary range.  A criminologist can be an individual who works in conjunction with local police, helping to profile a suspect or consult on an ongoing case.  Their research is critical to mapping out predictable trends of terrorists or honing their own negotiation skills.   The research that various criminologists have done over the years has been critical to Homeland Security and other top level government intelligence associations.

Others use criminology as a precursor to a Law degree.  The issue with a lot of lawyers these days is that they have a hefty grasp on the penal law, but can’t empathize with their clients.  Not nearly enough lawyers use criminology as a stepping stone to becoming a successful lawyer.

Another whole category of careers that are one degree separated from actual police work include probation officers and corrections officers.  These careers are in dire need of someone who is well educated in the habits and mindsets of various criminals.   These areas would be executed with a lot more ease and efficiency if a criminology degree was mandatory.

We have recently seen a significant rise in criminology students due to popularity of ‘CSI’ shows as of late.  These potential graduates will hopefully make the penal system a more seamless and knowledgeable entity in the coming years.

http://www.khanacademy.org

http://oyc.yale.edu/

http://www.ocwconsortium.org/

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/

http://webcast.berkeley.edu/courses.php

http://lecturefox.com/

http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/

http://oli.web.cmu.edu/openlearning/

http://ocw.tufts.edu/

http://itunes.stanford.edu/

http://ocw.uci.edu/

http://ocw.usq.edu.au/

http://degreedirectory.org/articles/Free_Video_Lectures_from_Top_Colleges_and_Universities.html