MA in Human Services Counseling Degree – Criminal Justice Increase Your Knowledge in Human Services
30
Credit Hours
100% online,* 8-week courses
Transfer in up to 50% of the degree total
Help Heal Broken Lives with an Online Counseling for Human Services Degree – Criminal Justice
Liberty University’s 100% online Master of Arts (MA) in Human Services Counseling — Criminal Justice is designed for human services professionals seeking graduate-level training and for students beginning a career in human services and mental health support. The non-licensure online human services degree does not require any on-campus visits and has no thesis requirement, making it easier for you to fit graduate courses into your busy schedule.
While this degree primarily focuses on human services counseling, the criminal justice concentration covers essential skills that can complement your training in human services. Police officers, social workers, or those currently employed by the family service sector can benefit from training in criminal justice — a career field that is often accompanied by trauma, rehabilitation, and intense stress.
As a Christian university, Liberty is committed to training human services professionals who can apply scientific research, clinical tools, and a biblical worldview to their practice. As such, the online master’s in human services counseling can help equip you to better serve clients who struggle with life’s challenges by addressing their social, psychological, and spiritual needs.
The criminal justice area of study for the online Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling program includes training designed to help human services professionals apply theories of counseling and human behavior to support mental health and personal growth in correctional facilities and police stations.
Your career in correctional counseling starts here! Apply today and become a force for good in the criminal justice or human services field.
*Some exclusions apply. Please refer to our exclusions page for more information.
Why Choose Liberty’s Online Master’s in Human Services Counseling Degree – Criminal Justice?
Do you have a passion for studying the human mind and finding the best way to help people improve their lives? With the online Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling degree, you can dive into the fascinating study of human behavior and psychology while also learning to help solve specific, real-world mental health problems through counseling.
The Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling degree program offers a balance of field-tested practice and cutting-edge research in behavioral sciences — so you can be confident that your approach to treatment will be backed by solid, scientific study that is built on a biblical worldview.
If you are trying to branch out from a human services role to serve in a criminal justice organization, the criminal justice area of study is designed to give you the advanced research in human behavior and criminal justice administration that you’ll need. If you’d like to focus on mental health pertaining to criminal justice, you may want to pursue the criminal justice track for the online master’s in human services counseling.
What Will You Study in the Criminal Justice Concentration for the Human Services Counseling Degree?
The core content of the online Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling degree provides a balanced overview of important theories in psychology while applying this knowledge to specific, real-world counseling practices. In the online master’s in human services counseling program, you will study the development of the human mind from childhood to adulthood and learn how multicultural issues impact counseling in individual and group settings.
As a Christian university, Liberty bases this study of human thought and behavior on a Christian worldview and demonstrates how biblical principles inform these scientific and evidence-based practices. In the online criminal justice area of study, you will receive an overview of the interdependent organizations and agencies of the criminal justice system along with the theoretical and practical management perspectives embraced by these organizations.
You will also be trained in practical, real-world human resource management methods in the criminal justice field and study important case law that has formed substantive procedural changes in criminal law. The administrative skills emphasized in the criminal justice track can help equip you for a human services or management role that utilizes your expertise in human behavior studies.
Please note: The online Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling is not designed to fulfill clinical counseling requirements. You can view Liberty University’s licensure-track Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling for more information about counseling licensure.
Potential Career Opportunities
- Behavioral disorder counselor
- Case manager
- Chaplain in criminal justice ministry*
- Juvenile detention/youth counselor
- Non-licensure correctional counselor
*Chaplaincy may be an option in some cases. However, many roles will require additional training or a seminary degree.
Featured Courses
Degree Information
- This program falls under the School of Behavioral Sciences.
- View the Graduate Behavioral Sciences Course Guides (login required).
Degree Completion Plan
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Tuition & Aid
Your success is our success, which is why we are committed to providing quality academics at an affordable tuition rate. While other colleges are increasing their tuition, we have frozen tuition rates for the majority of our undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs for the past 9 years – and counting.
Graduate Full Time | $565/Credit |
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Graduate Part Time | $615/Credit |
Military Graduate | $275/Credit |
Tuition rates may change annually. For the most current information, please visit our LU Tuition Cost page.
All Tuition & Fees
Financial Aid & Scholarships
Admission Requirements for Our Human Services Counseling Degree
Admission Requirements
- Apply online or over the phone with an admissions counselor by calling (800) 424-9596.
- A non-refundable, non-transferable $50 application fee will be posted on the current application upon enrollment (waived for qualifying service members, veterans, and military spouses – documentation verifying military status is required).
- Send official college transcripts (mailed as sealed, unopened copies or sent via a direct electronic transcript system). A regionally or nationally accredited bachelor’s degree with at least a 2.0 GPA is required for admission in good standing. Applicants who have earned a master’s degree or at least 12 graduate credits from an accredited institution will be assessed on the basis of the master’s-level degree work.
- Unofficial transcripts can be used for acceptance purposes with the submission of a Transcript Request Form.
- Applicants whose native language is other than English must submit official scores for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or an approved alternative assessment. For information on alternative assessments or TOEFL waivers, please call Admissions or view the official International Admissions policy.
Preliminary Acceptance
If you are sending in a preliminary transcript for acceptance, you must:
- Be in your final term and planning to start your master’s degree after the last day of class for your bachelor’s degree.
- Complete a Bachelor’s Self-Certification Form confirming your completion date. You may download the form from the Forms and Downloads page or contact an admissions counselor to submit the form on your behalf.
- Submit an official/unofficial transcript to confirm that you are in your final term. The preliminary transcript must show a minimum of 105 completed credit hours.
- If you are a current Liberty University student completing your undergraduate degree, you will need to submit a Degree/Certificate Completion Application.
- Send in an additional, final official transcript with a conferral date on it by the end of your first semester of enrollment in the new master’s degree.
Dual Enrollment
Please see the Online Dual Enrollment page for information about starting graduate courses while finishing your bachelor’s degree.
Transcript Policies
Unofficial College Transcript Policy
Unofficial transcripts combined with a Transcript Request Form can be used for admission. Official transcripts are required within 60 days of the admissions decision or before non-attendance drops for the first set of matriculated classes, whichever comes first, and will prevent enrollment into future terms until all official transcripts have been received.
Before sending unofficial college transcripts, please make sure they include the following:
- Your previous school’s name or logo printed on the document
- Cumulative GPA
- A list of completed courses and earned credit broken down by semester
- Degree and date conferred (if applicable)
Official College Transcript Policy
An acceptable official college transcript is one that has been issued directly from the institution and is in a sealed envelope. If you have one in your possession, it must meet the same requirements. If your previous institution offers electronic official transcript processing, they can send the document directly to luoverify@liberty.edu.
If the student uses unofficial transcripts with a Transcript Request Form to gain acceptance, all official transcripts must be received within 60 days of the admissions decision or before non-attendance drops for the first set of matriculated classes, whichever comes first. Failure to send all official transcripts within the 60-day period will prevent enrollment into future terms until all official transcripts have been received.
Admissions Office Contact Information
Liberty University Online Admissions Verification
1971 University Blvd.
Lynchburg, VA 24515
Ready to Apply?
Submit your application online or over the phone.
Military
Liberty University is dedicated to providing world-class educational experiences to military students across the globe.
Who May Qualify?
- Active Duty
- Reserve/National Guard
- Veterans/Retirees
- Spouses of Service Members and Veterans/Retirees
- Current Department of Defense Employees
Available Benefits:
- Tuition discounts – $275 per credit hour for graduate courses
- Additional discount for veterans who service in a civilian capacity as a First Responder (less than $625 per course)*
- 8-week courses, 8 different start dates each year, and no set login times (may exclude certain courses such as practicums, internships, or field experiences)
*Not applicable to certificates.
Tuition rates may change annually. For the most current information, please visit our LU Tuition Cost page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the benefits of pursuing Liberty’s online human services degree?
- Be mentored by professors with real-world experience while you explore cutting-edge scholarship and methods for human services counseling.
- Complete your coursework on a schedule that fits your life with Liberty’s widely respected online learning environment.
- Study a balanced perspective on the theological principles that underlie psychology and learn effective counseling techniques rooted in a biblical worldview.
- See best practices put to action by observing group meetings in your own community.
What skills will I study in the Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling degree?
The online Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling seeks to equip you with the mental health and counseling skills needed to succeed in private, public, and nonprofit human services settings. These settings include Christian counseling ministries, youth ministries, community service agencies, group homes, outreach services, in-home mental health support services, probation agencies, and other types of casework and support settings where counseling skills are needed.
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