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Criminal JusticeDegrees
American University campus — Front Gate at American University
Front Gate at American University. Campus photograph. · Photo: Samschoe · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
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American University

Washington, DCPrivate nonprofit MSCHEAmerican University Online

American University's School of Public Affairs houses a Department of Justice, Law, Criminology & Security that lists a BA in Justice & Law, an on-campus MS and PhD in Justice, Law & Criminology, and an online MS in Counter-Terrorism and Homeland Security.

Verified degree programs

2 programs verified so far (1 master's, 1 doctoral). The school may offer more programs than we have verified; certificates are not listed as degrees.

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American University

Master of Science in Justice, Law & Criminology

Master'sMSDedicated degreeMaster of Science
Format: Campus
Location: Washington, DC
Attendance: Campus-based study
Duration: students are expected to complete the degree within two years · 33 credits
Tuition: Tuition not verified
Next deadline: Rolling admission (as published)
Accreditation: Institution accredited: MSCHE
Subjects: Criminology · Criminal Justice
View program
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American University

PhD in Justice, Law & Criminology

Research doctoratePhDDedicated degreeDoctor of Philosophy
Format: Campus · Full-time
Location: Washington, DC
Attendance: Campus-based study
Duration: Duration not verified · 36 credits
Tuition: Tuition not verified
Next deadline: No upcoming verified deadline
Accreditation: Institution accredited: MSCHE
Subjects: Criminology · Criminal Justice · Homeland Security
View program

Accreditation

  • Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)

    Institutional accreditation — accredited · since January 1, 1928 · next review 01/01/2032

    Recognized by: U.S. Department of Education

    Source: ope.ed.gov · verified October 10, 2026

FEPAC program accreditation

None of this school's listed programs appears in FEPAC's accredited-program list. FEPAC accredits forensic science programs only and is optional; its absence does not make a program ineligible here.

Institutional accreditation covers the institution. It does not mean every program is FEPAC-accredited — FEPAC accredits individual programs, and we show it only for the program FEPAC lists.

Online student services

Services the university publishes for online students. Availability can depend on program and enrollment status.

Online student services: not verified. We publish this only when the institution states it on an official page.

Offerings we reviewed but do not list

This directory lists associate, bachelor's, master's and PhD programs in its subjects. These offerings were checked against official pages and fall outside that scope (certificates, associate degrees, electives-only degrees…).
  • Data Sciences for Justice, Law, & Criminology (BS) (Bachelor of Science)Data science degree; relevance to criminal justice coursework not verified, so not recorded as a program.Source: american.edu · verified October 24, 2026
  • Terrorism & Homeland Security Policy (MS, on-campus) (Master of Science)Homeland security policy degree; page not researched in detail, left for follow-up.Source: american.edu · verified October 24, 2026

Institution

Official name
American University
Control
Private nonprofit
Source: nces.ed.gov · verified October 10, 2026
Main location
4400 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20016-8001
Source: nces.ed.gov · verified October 10, 2026
Students enrolled exclusively in distance education
1,122 of 13,019 students (Fall 2023)
Source: nces.ed.gov · verified October 10, 2026

Sources

Last verified October 24, 2026. Program facts and their sources are on each program page.
  1. IPEDS 2024–25 Institutional Characteristics (HD2024), via College Navigator — U.S. Department of Education dataset (IPEDS / DAPIP), verified October 10, 2026
  2. IPEDS Fall 2023 enrollment by distance-education status (EF2023A_DIST) — U.S. Department of Education dataset (IPEDS / DAPIP), verified October 10, 2026
  3. DAPIP — MSCHE institutional accreditation record (data files downloaded 2026-10-10) — U.S. Department of Education dataset (IPEDS / DAPIP), verified October 10, 2026
  4. american.edu/spa/degrees.cfm — Official program page, verified October 24, 2026
  5. american.edu/spa/jlc/ — Official program page, verified October 24, 2026
  6. american.edu/spa/ms-jlcr/index.cfm — Official program page, verified October 24, 2026

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