Criminal Justice Degree Online

Freshmen
To be accepted for admission to Culver-Stockton College, graduating high school seniors must have a 2.5 overall GPA and have scored at least a 20 on their ACT.

Transfer Students
To be accepted for admission to Culver-Stockton College, transfer students must have an overall 2.0 GPA in all college course work previously taken.

International Students
International students can apply using either the freshman student application or transfer student application. You will need to submit transcripts and TOEFL scores. We recommend that you apply by April 1 to begin in the Fall (August) term and by November 1 to begin in the Spring (January) term. > more information

Nursing Students
Students who wish to be admitted into the nursing program must meet the admission standards of the Blessing-Rieman College of Nursing, which are:
PRIORITY ONE: High school students with an ACT score of 22 or above and high school GPA of at least 3.0. Will be admitted as freshmen. They are considered official nursing majors at the end of the freshman year if they meet the following requirements:
Cumulative GPA of 2.5*
Support course GPA of 2.5*
Completion of all prerequisite courses for the sophomore nursing courses with a grade of C or better*
Completion of at least 24 hours of college credit*

*Required of all four groups of entering nursing students.

Blessing-Rieman will assign an advisor at the beginning of the second semester if students are meeting admissions requirements at that time. They will be allowed to pre-register for sophomore nursing courses.
PRIORITY TWO: High school students with an ACT score of 19-21 or a GPA below 3.0. May be admitted to Culver-Stockton or QU as pre-nursing students if they meet that college’s admission requirements. They may apply to the nursing major at the end of their freshman year, or any time after that, and will be considered for admission if they then meet nursing college requirements. Blessing-Rieman will assign an advisor at the beginning of the second semester if students are meeting admissions requirements at that time. They will be allowed to pre-register for sophomore nursing courses.

PRIORITY THREE: High school students with an ACT score of 18 or below or a GPA below 3.0 May be admitted to Culver-Stockton or QU as conditional or undecided if they meet that college’s admissions requirements. They may then apply to the nursing major at the end of their freshman year, or any time after that, and will be considered for admission if they meet Blessing-Rieman requirements. In addition, they must have an ACT score of 19 or above.

PRIORITY FOUR: Transfer sophomore students may be admitted to the nursing major if they meet all the admission requirements and also have an ACT score of 22 or above.

If you do not meet the stated requirements, contact the admissions office to determine whether other options apply to

Minimum credits required: 58 to 61 (including prerequisite courses as indicated)
Specific requirements for the interdisciplinary major in criminal justice follow:

Prerequisites:

PSY 110, POL 101, SOC 100, ECN 101 and ECN 102 are required of all Criminal Justice majors.

These courses are to be completed before taking other required courses in that department as indicated below. (* = Required prerequisite courses)

Criminal Justice core: 19 hours required

CRJ
165
Overview of the CRJ System
4 credits

POL/CRJ
207
Introduction to Law
3 credits

CRJ/SOC
223
Juv Del/Juv Justice System
3 credits

SOC/CRJ
313
Criminology
3 credits

CRJ/SOC
361
Corrections
3 credits

CRJ
464
Integrative Sem. In Crim. Justice
3 credits

Psychology: 11-12 hours required

PSY
110
Principles of Psychology
4 credits*

Select one of the following:

PSY
205
Developmental Psychology
3 credits

PSY
315
Child Development
4 credits

PSY
325
Adolescent Development
4 credits

Select one of the following:

PSY
302
Abnormal Psychology
4 credits

PSY
339
Social Psychology
4 credits

Political Science: 7 hours required

POL
101
American National Government
4 credits*

Select one of the following:

POL
303
Public Administration
3 credits

POL
304
Urban Politics
3 credits

POL
308
Civil Liberties
3 credits

POL
309
Criminal Law and the Constitution
3 credits

Sociology: 7-8 hours required

SOC
100
Principles of Sociology
4 credits*

Select one of the following:

SOC
201
Social Problems
4 credits

SOC
302
Racial & Cultural Minorities
3 credits

Economics: 11 hours required

ECN
101
Principles of Economics I
4 credits*

ECN
102
Principles of Economics II
4 credits*

Select one of the following:

ECN
349
Labor in the Economy
3 credits

ECN
352
Public Finance
3 credits

ECN
356
Urban Economics
3 credits

Statistics: 3-4 hours required

Select one of the following:

MTH
135
Introduction to Probability & Statistics
3 credits

ECN
279
Elements of Statistics
4 credits

PSY
279
Elements of Statistics
4 credits

IMPORTANT NOTE regarding D grades in the CRJ interdisciplinary major:
Students should also be aware that they cannot have more than 4 credit hours of “D” in the CRJ interdisciplinary major (including prerequisites ECN 101 and 102, PSY 100/110, SOC 100, POL 101). If you must repeat a course under those circumstances, you will not be given duplicate credit for the same course. (Note: PSY 279 and ECN 279 are equivalent courses.) If a student has more than one “D” in the CRJ interdisciplinary major, he/she should consider whether to remain in the CRJ major.

Criminal Justice Major

Completion of the Criminal Justice major requires 33 hours of course work in Criminal Justice (24 hours of required courses and 9 hours of electives) and the completion of 2 prerequisite courses. Also, students are expected to write at the college level. Therefore, students should have completed ENGL 1050 or equivalent BEFORE enrolling in the required and elective courses for the major.

Prerequisite Courses
SOC 2000: Principles of Sociology OR SOC 2100: Modern Social Problems
SOC 2600: Introduction to Criminal Justice

Required Courses (All of the following courses are required.)
SOC 2820: Methods of Data Collection
SOC 2830: Methods of Data Analysis
SOC 3620: Criminology
SOC 3630: Criminal Justice Process
SOC 3640: Sociology of Law Enforcement
SOC 3650: Correctional Process
SOC 4540: Juvenile Delinquency
SOC 4660: Advanced Criminology

Electives

The 9 hours of elective courses may be selected from any of the following courses. The courses are listed according to substantive areas of criminal justice.

Contemporary Issues in Sociology and Criminology
AFS 3000: Black Experience
LAW 3840: Criminal Law and Proceedure
SOC 3140: Ethnic Relations
SOC 3200: Introduction to Social Psychology
SOC 4120: Child Abuse
SOC 4560: Social Stratification
SOC 4950: Special Topics in Sociology and Criminal Justice
SOC 5600: Corporate Crime
SOC 5610: Violence and U.S. Society
SOC 5620: Victimology
SOC 5630: Gender and Justice
SOC 5680: Race, Ethnicity and Justice

Corrections
SOC 4650: Non-Institutional Corrections

Courts
PHIL 3130: Philosophy of Law
PSCI 3200: American Judicial Process (4 credit hours)
PSCI 3250: Criminal Justice Policy
PSCI 4220: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
SOC 5780: Sociology of Law

Juvenile Justice
SOC 4220: Adolescent Socialization
SOC 4580: Juvenile Justice Casework
SOC 4590: Juvenile Justice

Law Enforcement Administration
SOC 4670: Police and Community Dynamics
SOC 4680: Police and Crime Prevention

Internship and Directed Study
SOC 4960: Criminal Justice Internship

Students applying for admission to the Criminal Justice program must have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and an undergraduate grade point average (GPA) above 3.00 for full admission. Applicants with an undergraduate GPA below 3.00 will be considered for admission on a provisional basis. Such applicants may be required to submit Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or Miller Analogies test scores as a condition for admission. Students admitted on a provisional basis must take SOC 4585 Professional Writing for Law Enforcement and SOC 4005 Research Methods and Analysis (or SOC 4075 Advanced Research Methods and Analysis) the first time they are offered. Such students may also be required to take prerequisite courses offered through the University College. If required, prerequisite courses must be completed prior to enrolling in any graduate courses including those indicated above. Students must achieve a grade of at least B in all courses while in a provisional status. At the conclusion of the above, the student’s application will be reviewed for a full admissions decision.

Applicants should submit or have sent to Graduate Admissions the following:
a completed application form accompanied by a non-refundable application fee,
complete and official transcripts of all coursework from each undergraduate and graduate school attended
two letters of recommendation appraising the candidate’s promise and capacity for graduate study, reflecting, from a professional’s point of view, the candidate’s ability to pursue a rigorous, independent course of study at the graduate level
a personal statement outlining the candidate’s professional goals and educational objectives for the program, including the applicant’s rationale for program choice and professional study.

Admission is on a rolling basis and applications will be considered at any time throughout the year; however, applicants are asked to meet the application deadlines listed below:Enrollment expected Application package deadline
Fall July 15
Spring November 15
Summer April 15

Chairperson: Robert Prout
Faculty: Andzenge, Campbell, Clifford, Gilbertson, Hennessy, Hesse, Lane, Lawrence, Prout, Schreiber, Seefeldt
Adjunct Faculty: Aceves, Altobell, Anderson, Bentrud, Caldecott, Eibes, Ellering, Hand, Hanson, Harris, Heckendorn, Klaphake, Kutzke, McDonald, Morgan, Norman, Schaefer, Schumann, Wirth

The baccalaureate degree program emphasizes the inter relatedness of law enforcement, court services, corrections, juvenile justice, and private security within the criminal justice continuum. If students wish to specialize in a subfield of the continuum, they must first receive an exposure to the total system. After this balance the students can then pursue their specialization through formal instruction, seminars, internships, and independent study. Criminal justice majors may also choose not to specialize but to continue an in depth study within the general field of criminal justice.

Additional credit hours beyond the General Education requirements, prerequisite courses, and the minimum 45 semester hours necessary for a major in Criminal Justice Studies are needed to meet the 120 semester hours of credit necessary for the Bachelor of Arts degree. This additional course work is recommended in both cognate and elective areas; the former includes biology, chemistry, economics, political science, psychology, social work, and statistics; and the latter includes education, English, Spanish, history and philosophy.

The Department suggests that the required course STAT 219 be completed before enrolling for CJS 486.

Prerequisite for admission to the Criminal Justice major and minor program is a 2.65 GPA overall on all SCSU course work. A requirement for graduation with a major in criminal justice studies at St. Cloud State University is researching, writing and orally defending a senior thesis. This requirement, which also fulfils the university’s upper-division-writing requirement, is completed in CJS 488 Senior Thesis.