Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice

The dynamic, multidisciplinary criminal justice degree at St. Joseph's engages students in a number of areas, including sociology, political science, psychology, philosophy, forensic bioscience and criminal justice. The criminal justice program offers specialized classes in the field within a broad liberal arts curriculum, and graduates emerge with the critical thinking skills, reflective worldview and career flexibility to pursue graduate studies or enter the job market.

Our criminal justice majors find careers as law enforcement officers, correction officers, social workers, counselors, investigators, and probation and parole officers. They work as a mental health counselor, addiction specialist, juvenile caseworker or court administrator. Some criminal justice majors study law and become prosecutors and defense attorneys. Students can prepare for these highly sought-after opportunities with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice at St. Joseph's University.

Criminal Justice Degree Tracks

Criminal justice program undergraduate students may specialize in one of five tracks: Law & Justice, Juvenile Justice, Mental Health, Community Corrections, or Technology and the Criminal Justice System. In addition, each senior completes an internship to apply classroom theories and procedures in such settings as probation departments, police departments, district attorney's offices, drug rehabilitation facilities, women's shelters, youth programs, courts, and legal aid offices. We also offer other experiential learning and study abroad opportunities.

Each criminal justice faculty member has a specialized area of research and brings that knowledge into such courses as:

• Effectiveness of Ex-Offender Reentry Programs
• Writing for Justice Programs
• Juvenile Justice

In addition, our criminal justice majors can join our active Criminal Justice Club on our Long Island campus, which provides extracurricular activities for students interested in the field. Each year, we sponsor events and celebrate National Criminal Justice Month to raise awareness of criminal justice policy issues in the city, region and state.

Our criminal justice program on Long Island gives undergraduate students the critical thinking skills employers demand and provides them with skills essential for a career in Criminal Justice.