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Criminal Justice Degree
Bachelor of Science (B.S.)
Program type:
Major
Format:
On Campus
Online
Est. time to complete:
4 years
Credit Hours:
120
Contribute to a more just and safer world with a degree in Criminal Justice.
UNT's Criminal Justice degree empowers students with the knowledge and skills they
need to create just and safe communities. Our students prepare for challenging careers
in public sector law enforcement, corrections, court-related employment, nonprofits
and private sector loss prevention, and corporate security and investigative work.
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Request More InfoWhy Earn a Criminal Justice Degree?
The Department of Criminal Justice is committed to excellence in teaching, research and service. Our faculty is comprised of nationally recognized scholars focusing on interdisciplinary solutions to the complex problems of crime and disorder, and contributing to a just and safe community.
Our curriculum educates you in the theoretical, practical and empirical aspects of criminal justice in preparation for your potential career or graduate studies. The coursework addresses a wide variety of subjects such as:
- Criminal justice and public policy
- Criminal law and procedure
- Criminological theory
- Ethical and diversity issues in criminal justice
- History of crime and justice in the United States
- Police, courts and correctional systems
- Research methods
Marketable Skills
- Leadership ability
- Oral and written communication
- Law and policy awareness
- Information collection, analysis and interpretation
- Teamwork
Criminal Justice Degree Highlights
Our faculty members have extensive relationships with area agencies and include nationally
recognized experts in policing, juvenile justice, corrections, criminological theory,
victims' issues and sentencing. Their books and articles are used in classrooms across
the nation, and some have been cited as landmark research efforts.
We sponsor student chapters of Alpha Phi Sigma (the national criminal justice honor
society), Lambda Alpha Epsilon (the criminal justice pre-professional society), and
many other student organizations..
Our Criminal Justice Internship Program allows you to complete an internship for academic
credit and gain practical experience.
Electives focus on alcohol and drug misuse, community corrections, corporate security,
juvenile justice, offender behavior and organized crime.
The Department of Criminal Justice in UNT’s College of Health and Public Service offers
scholarships to students each year, including: J. Edgar Hoover Scholarship and Jacob
Andrew Fritsch Memorial Scholarship.
Some courses incorporate experiential activities in jails, prisons or courtrooms,
or require completing service-learning activities. Other electives and seminars allow
you to focus your studies on a particular interest, and study abroad opportunities
also are available.
Career Outlook
Pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice at the University of North Texas can lay the groundwork for becoming a:
- Law enforcement officer
- Court administrator
- Probation or parole officer
- Crime and intelligence analyst
- Correctional treatment expert
- Victim's advocate
- Policy analyst
- Social service provider
- Loss prevention officer
- Fraud investigator
- Corporate security administrator
Many of our alumni are serving in agencies throughout the North Texas region as:
- Police chiefs, supervisors and officers
- Special agents at federal agencies
- State law enforcement officers
- Supervisory staff at community corrections agencies
Criminal Justice Degree Courses You Could Take
Diversity Issues in Criminal Justice (3 hrs)
This course critically examines race, gender and other diversity issues within the
U.S. criminal justice system. Topics of emphasis include the importance of diversity
issues in the development, organization and operation of the criminal justice system.
Police Systems (3 hrs)
This course focuses on the role and function of police in contemporary society, the
problems arising between citizens and police from the enforcement of laws, the limitations
of police in a democratic society and the methodologies used by the police to be a
more effective component of the justice system.
Correctional Systems (3 hrs)
This course focuses on prisons and jails, and examines the goals and history of punishment;
the death penalty; the composition and social organization of jail and prison populations;
bail, detention, sentencing and classification; and institutional management and the
conflicts between rehabilitation and punishment.
Criminology (3 hrs)
This course provides an overview of the major criminological perspectives and an examination
of the social, political and intellectual milieu within which each developed and focuses
on the multi-disciplinary nature of criminological thought.
Ethical Issues in Criminal Justice (3 hrs)
Students will study ethical issues facing the criminal justice system and problems
confronting police, the courts and the juvenile and correctional systems.
Crime and Justice in the United States (3 hrs)
This course examines the societal responses to people and organizations that violate
criminal codes; discusses the history, development, organization and philosophy of
the justice process; and analyzes the complex inter-relationships between the major
components of the criminal justice system (police, courts and corrections).
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