Searching for a job at the federal government level, Mark Shannon, an investigator for a court system in Cleveland, hopes that earning a master’s degree in criminal justice will make him a standout applicant.

The 29-year-old is pursuing an education online from Arizona State University, which offers him the flexibility to work around family responsibilities and an already busy work schedule.

Though a few potential employers asked him initially how he balances work, school and family life, along with why he chose Arizona State, Shannon says they don’t seem to view his online degree negatively — if anything, they just want to confirm that his coursework won’t interfere with his job, he says.

“I just make sure that they know I never have to set foot on campus. I’m always doing this at home,” Shannon says.

Shannon might be onto something. Many employers say that the format of a criminal justice bachelor’s or master’s degree program — whether it’s online, on campus or a combination — holds much less weight in hiring decisions than other factors such as a program’s accreditation and a student’s performance in the process.

[Discover how to tell if an online program is accredited.]

That perception has evolved from a decade ago, when employers viewed online degrees with much more skepticism, says Brett Meade, deputy chief of police at the University of Central Florida Police Department, who oversees hiring.

“Virtually every person now that you see has had at least one class online,” he says.

Even though the minimum requirement for many law enforcement jobs such as a police officer is typically a high school diploma or the equivalent, many now enter the force with at least a college degree. Meanwhile, a master’s degree might be a good option for somebody looking to pursue leadership positions in law enforcement, experts say.

But because police officers often work in shifts around the clock, online education might be their only viable option — a fact that many employers understand, law enforcement experts say.

[Learn how online degrees can help adults switch careers.]

“Over the years, online degrees have become more acceptable when it comes to working with the younger generations, the millennials, the new generations who are born and raised to be tech-savvy,” says Meade. “Online degrees work for them.”

A criminal justice degree holder might also pursue a legal career such as a paralegal, or in corrections or — as in Shannon’s case — the justice system, experts say.

Based on her experiences, an elite law firm might be more hesitant to hire online degree holders for paralegal positions, though a school’s reputation is a major factor, says Carol Palmer, president and founder of Palmer Legal Staffing , a firm based in Washington, D.C. Smaller law firms, however, might be more receptive to online degree holders, she says, but perceptions vary.

Christopher Fallon, spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Corrections, says the agency has received more and more applications from grads with online criminal justice degrees over the past few years.

If they meet the minimum entrance requirements, he says, the format doesn’t matter, especially given the prevalence of online and blended learning today.

“We’ll ask for a transcript, and as long as the college is accredited, we don’t discriminate between traditional or online,” Fallon says.

Lt. Jorge Macias, a police officer who oversees recruiting for the Los Angeles Police Department, agrees that accreditation is much more important in a hiring decision. He says the personnel department, which does the first screening for applicants, usually looks at that up front, along with the reputation of the school, graduates’ grades and whether they were ever on academic probation, for instance.

[See why enrollment in online learning is up, except at for-profits.]

“Ultimately, we’re more concerned with how a candidate performs in the testing and hiring process and the life choices they have made up until the point they test for the job,” Andre Sinn, a detective who works in the recruiting unit at the Seattle Police Department, said via email.

Even when a job candidate’s program format comes up during the personnel department’s background investigation, says Macias, employers don’t necessarily question the quality of the education further if the school itself is accredited.

“Really the follow-up questions occur when students have a record of some academic issue,” the LAPD officer says.

Many experts say it isn’t necessary for job candidates to state explicitly on their application or resume that they earned their criminal justice degree online. Shannon, for example, thinks employers care more about the name of the school, he says.

Hopefully, the university’s reputation “will eventually make me stand out to employers, since it’s a world-renowned institution,” Shannon says.

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What Employers Think of Online Criminal Justice Degrees originally appeared on usnews.com