Our Most Frequently Asked Questions for Criminal Justice
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If you are interested in a career that involves helping those who are…
- engaged in,
- accused of,
- convicted of,
- a victim of,
- or at risk of engaging in…
criminal activity, a degree in criminal justice is the right choice for you.
You can work…
- with adult or juvenile offenders
- in a local, state, or federal agency or non-profit organization,
- in enforcement, courts, or corrections
- in administration, prevention, forensics, crime analysis, or rehabilitation
- or as an advocate for victims of crime
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The bachelor’s degree program is 120 credit hours which is about 40 courses. Fourteen of those are General Education courses to give you a broad foundation in…
- Communication
- Math and Science
- Information technology
- Fine arts
- Humanities
- History
- Foreign language
- Social sciences
For the criminal justice major requirements, there are…
- 7 core courses (Introduction to Criminal Justice, Policing in America, Criminal Courts, Corrections, Research Methods, Theories of Crime, and Senior Seminar)
- 5 upper division courses
- 3 supporting courses (statistics, ethics, and career planning)
- 6 minor courses or 4 cognate courses
- 5-7 electives
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An internship is not required for the degree, but you are encouraged to pursue an internship to get hands-on experience in the field and at least 3 hours of course credit. Or you can take the Career Development in Criminal Justice course to learn about various careers in the field.
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Crime Analysis prepares you to map crime, collect data, and predict trends in a specific area. We offer the Crime Analysis Concentration which is an optional 5-course sequence instead of upper-level criminal justice courses.
- CRJU U272: Foundations in Crime Analysis (first half fall semester)
- CRJU U365: Strategic Crime Analysis (second half fall semester)
- CRJU U366: Tactical Crime Analysis (first half spring semester)
- CRJU U468: Advanced Topics in Crime Analysis (second half spring semester)
- CRJU U498: Practical Crime Analysis (summer or fall semester)
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- If your interest is in gathering evidence at a crime scene, you should major in criminal justice and minor in a science such as physics or chemistry.
- If your interest is in analyzing crime scene evidence in a lab, you should major in a science such as chemistry or biology and minor in criminal justice.
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Options:
In-person classes are engaging and allow you to interact with your professors and classmates in real time but require you to attend class on specific days and times of the week which can be difficult if you are employed and/or have other obligations.
Online classes allow more flexibility since you won’t have to attend class meetings but require you to have time management skills and be self-motivated.