(Bachelor of Science Degree)
Criminal justice is the study of crime, its causes, and its effects on society. It is concerned with preventing and deterring criminal behavior, rehabilitating the offender, and providing a system where justice and rights are served, while reflecting 21st Century concerns. Graduates of the program have opportunities in a variety of criminal justice-related fields including policing, law, probation, juvenile services, private security, public administration/planning, counseling, research, regulatory enforcement, and more.
Utica University’s undergraduate program in Criminal Justice combines a robust variety of required and elective Criminal Justice courses, including the opportunity to complete minors, with a New York State Education Department’s mandated general liberal arts education.
Our Student Success Coach will create an academic plan with each student to ensure all general education, liberal arts and graduation requirements are satisfied. Please see Utica’s Academic Requirements for more information on general education and liberal arts requirements.
In addition to entry level government and private employment opportunities, graduates will be prepared to advance to graduate degrees in fields related to criminal justice and more.
Criminal Justice Program Mission Statement
Leading students to make a positive impact on our communities during their criminal justice careers and beyond. We do this by:
• providing classroom and reality-based learning
• integrating liberal arts and professional courses
• developing current knowledge of critical issues
• advocating for the respect and fair treatment of a diverse community
• instilling high ethical standards and a sense of personal responsibility
Learning Objectives
A student who graduates from the program will be able to demonstrate the following:
- Integrate key criminal justice and criminological concepts, processes, and issues, including landmark cases, technology, data, and skills within reality-based criminal justice scenarios.
- Demonstrate competence, professionalism, and ethics with regard to diversity in the criminal justice system and the communities it serves.
- Evaluate theory, data, and other evidence to inform criminal justice policy and practice.
- Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, about crime and the criminal justice system, demonstrating critical thinking and statistical literacy.
Special Requirements
Students in criminal justice are required to achieve a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.5 (on a 4.0 scale) across major and major-related courses
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