College of Education, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Criminal Justice Major

The Criminal Justice BA Program is designed for students who desire to enter or are newly entering a Criminal Justice System (CJS) profession and those already established seeking long-term career aspirations. The course content is an overarching view of the multi-systemic CJS highlighting foundational and evolving changes, current research trends, professionalism, ethics, creative decision-making, and leadership development as central themes throughout the program. This program offers students the opportunity to explore their criminal justice interests and develop leadership aptitude while building valuable, career-ready, and promotable skillsets upon graduation. The CJ-BA Program has been approved by the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) academic licensure requirements, and continuing education (CE) credits toward annual licensure requirements.

General Education Requirements

All degree seeking undergraduate students must complete the general education requirements.

Degree Requirements

Bachelor of Arts degree consists of a major of typically 30 to 44 credits or two minors, general education courses, and elective courses totaling a minimum of 120 credits.

Required (and in sequence):
CJU 442Foundations of the Criminal Justice System4
CJU 446Research Methods in Criminology and Criminal Justice4
CJU 456Building an Integrated Criminal Justice System4
CJU 461Constitutional and Criminal Law and Justice4
CJU 472Cultural Considerations in Criminal Justice Systems4
CJU 475Ethical Dilemmas and Fundamental Leadership in the Criminal Justice System4
CJU 478Contemporary Issues in the Criminal Justice System4
CJU 483Exploring the Criminal Mind and Identifying Suspect Behavior4
CJU 487Delinquent and Criminal Behaviors Across the Life Course4
Please choose from one of these courses:4
Minnesota State Criminal Law and Traffic Codes (4)
Forensic Exploration in the Criminal Justice System (4)
CJU 495Criminal Justice Experiential Learning eFolio4
CJU 498Criminal Justice Internship1
Total Credits45