Criminal justice programs have proliferated in colleges and universities over the past 10-15 years, largely influenced by grants made available through LEAA and LEEP. However, many of these programs are of such poor quality as to be a disservice to the criminal justice profession. Many were established with poor conceptualization of program objectives and content, with emphasis on police training rather than on education, by pandering to local political forces and leaving academic decisions up to local police and criminal justice professionals, with inappropriate faculty criteria and denigration of the usual academic criteria, and with a lack of consultation with established high quality programs. Although such programs are currently under intense academic scrutiny, they can be useful if they adhere to a liberal arts model and develop both a curriculum and a faculty appropriate for membership on college campuses. No references are cited.