Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice
The Criminal Justice major prepares the student for a career and/or graduate study in the field of criminal justice. For those who wish to enter the labor market upon completion of a bachelor's degree, the program provides excellent preparation for careers in law enforcement, criminal investigation, corrections, and probation and parole. Internships with local, state and national criminal justice agencies are available to qualified majors providing specific preparation for future employment. For students who wish to pursue further education in criminal justice, the program offers advanced standing in the Marywood graduate program in Criminal Justice, permitting qualified students to complete a master's degree in Criminal Justice in their fifth year of study at the University.
Curriculum (18 Courses)
You can find descriptions of the courses listed below in the University Catalog.
I. Required Courses (9 courses)
CJ 100 Introduction to Criminal Justice
CJ 202 Quantitative Reasoning
CJ 220 Law Enforcement
CJ 303 Criminology
CJ 319 Criminal Law and Procedure
CJ 351 Social Research
CJ 433 The American Prison
CJ 460 Criminal Justice Internship
CJ 465 Senior Seminar in Criminal Justice
II. Electives (choose 5 or more courses from the list below)
CJ 101 Shadow & Service
CJ/BIO 105 Forensic Analytic Techniques (or can satisfy science requirement)
CJ 200 Introduction to the Legal System
CJ 201 The Juvenile Justice Subsystem
CJ 206 Community Corrections
CJ 212 Violence & Peace
CJ 219 Drugs in American Society
CJ 224 Criminal Investigation
CJ 225 Interviewing and Interrogation
CJ 302 White Collar Crime
CJ 304 Social Networks of Crime, Health & Society
CJ 322 Criminalistics & the Crime Lab
CJ 330 Prosecuting Criminal Cases
CJ 360 Problem-Oriented Policing
CJ 405 Deviant Behavior in Society
CJ 410 Race, Crime & Poverty in America
SOC 411 The Family
CJ 425 Children's Rights and Societal Responses
PSY 440 Forensic Psychology
CJ 470 Special Topics in Criminal Justice
*CJ 503 Criminal Justice Administration
*CJ 522 Criminology
*CJ 544 Staff Supervision in Criminal Justice
*CJ 576 Corrections
* CJ 500 graduate courses. Up to 12 graduate credits may be taken by CJ undergraduate students who have been accepted into the five-year CJ Masters program in the fourth year (UG) of their program. These courses are also open to seniors enrolled in the regular four-year undergraduate program with a GPA of 3.0 or better and the CJ Program Director's permission.
III. Cognate Courses (4 courses)
MATH 155 Statistics for Behavioral/Social Science
PS 210 American Government & Politics
PS 211 State & Local Government
SOC 214 Social Problems
Note: An additional 26-29 credits may be taken in any discipline to reach the graduation requirement of 120 credits
LIBERAL ARTS COMPONENT OF MARYWOOD UNIVERSITY
I. The first Year Experience (4 credits)
UNIV 100 Living Responsibly in an Interdependent World
ENG 160 Writing Skills (Must achieve a minimum letter grade of c)
II. The Human Condition in its Ultimate Relationship (12 credits)
Religious Studies (2 courses)
RST 112 Modern Belief
RST xxx Elective above 100 level
Philosophy (2 courses)
PHIL 113 Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL xxx Philosophy (above 100 level)
III. The Human Condition in the Context of the Physical Universe (6 credits)
Mathematics (1 course)
MATH 216 Statistics for the Behavioral and Social Sciences
Science (1 course)
Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science or Physics
IV. The Human Condition in Relation to Self and the Social Structure (3 credits)
Social Sciences (1 course)
SOC 211 Introductory Sociology
V. The Human Condition in its Cultural Context (12-15 credits)
English (2 courses)
ENGL 180 Introduction to World Literature
ENGL xxx 300 level or above
Modern Foreign Language
Selection dependent on student skills; Spanish highly recommended*
Fine Arts (1 course) FA 1xx
VI. The Human Condition in its Historical Context (6 credits)
History (2 courses)
History 105* Ethnicity & Diversity
History 253* U. S. History Since 1865
* CJ program recommendations; any course in the category will fill the requirement.
NOTE: This curriculum requires a total of 43-46 credits in the liberal arts. One course must fulfill a global studies requirement. (Courses that fulfill this category will be designated as global in the course description and course listings.) A student who has completed 4 years of the same foreign language in high school can choose to take just one, three-credit course above the 212 level to satisfy the foreign language requirement.
Academic Facts
- 120 credits are required for a degree.
- Transfer students must complete a minimum of 60 credits at Marywood divided equally between the major and the liberal arts.
- All major courses should be taken at Marywood. Liberal arts courses may be taken at other colleges or universities and transferred with a grade of C or better.
- Students must maintain a GPA average of 2.33 in their major and 2.0 overall to be retained and graduate.
BA Criminal Justice