Top criminology schools cited

The House committee on higher and technical education has credited the nation’s top criminology schools, based on the strong finish of their graduates in the last two eligibility examinations administered by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo, committee chairman, listed the top criminology schools, with the percentage of their examinees passing the licensure tests in brackets. Romulo said criminology is the third-most heavily subscribed program in college, after nursing and teaching, wherein graduates must first pass a national licensure examination before they can practice their profession. “We hope this list will help consumers — prospective criminology students and their parents — decide for themselves as to where they will likely receive greater value for their tuition money,” Romulo said. Citing PRC statistics, Romulo said the nine top-performing schools were the only institutions “with 50 or more examinees and with at least 80 percent of their examinees passing” the last two Criminologist Licensure Examinations. There may be smaller schools with at least 80 percent of their examinees passing the last two criminologist eligibility tests, but Romulo said these institutions were excluded because they had fewer than 50 examinees. According to the PRC, some 44.21 percent, or 16,918 out of 38,263 examinees, passed the last two Criminologist Licensure Examinations in April and October 2013. PRC and Commission on Higher Education records show that the country has a total of 416 schools authorized to produce would-be professional criminologists. Criminology refers to the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, control, and prevention of criminal behavior in individuals and societies. The criminal justice system, including law enforcement agencies, the prosecution service, the courts, as well as correctional and rehabilitation facilities, together with providers of private security services, are among the biggest recruiters of criminologists. LIST OF TOP SCHOOLS: University of the Cordilleras (99.42%) Ifugao State University (95.00%) Lipa City Colleges (94.83%) University of Baguio (92.56%) Universidad de Manila (88.39%) Angeles University Foundation (87.69%) Carlos Hilado State College of Fisheries-Binalbagan (82.81%) University of La Salette-Santiago (80.50%) PLT College Inc.-Bayombong (80.92%)