Coursework

Criminal Justice Major: The Courses Programs Actually Require

Trevor Rupe, Contributor at Savo Media Group

Published October 8, 2026

A criminal justice major is built around six subjects: criminology, research methods, corrections, policing, an introduction to criminal justice and criminal law. Each appears in at least half of the 170 bachelor’s course lists the site’s program profiles quote from the schools’ own pages, and criminology leads at 72%. Around that core sits a degree of about 120 credits, with a median of 42 of them in the major itself among the 27 programs whose profiles quote a figure.

Criminal Justice Major Courses: What the Course Lists Name

The counts read the course titles each profile quotes beside a course number, from the school’s catalog or program page. Of the 305 profiled bachelor’s programs, 170 quote three or more numbered courses, and those are the programs counted; 147 associate programs are counted the same way. An area counts once per program however many of its courses a list names, and a course from an elective list counts like a required one.

Six areas clear half of the bachelor’s lists, and together they are the criminal justice major as many schools write it. A required list can also be short: Eastern New Mexico University’s names an introduction, criminal law, criminology and an internship.

“Criminal Justice Course Requirements (10-13 hours) CJUS 1110 Introduction to Criminal Justice (3) CJUS 301 Criminal Law and the Courts (3) CJUS 312 Criminology (3) CJUS 489 Internship (1-4)”

Eastern New Mexico University

Below the core the lists spread out. Only 17% name a course on race, diversity or inequality, and 13% a forensic science course. Forensic science also appears as a concentration, offered by 34 of the 305 profiled bachelor’s programs, as the concentrations below show.

How the Criminal Justice Major Differs From an Associate Degree

Counting the 147 associate course lists the same way shows where the two levels part. The bachelor’s lists name the research side of the field more often: criminology 72% against 47%, research methods 68% against 7%, a capstone 39% against 14% and statistics 31% against 9%. The associate lists name these more often: criminal investigation 67% against 24%, criminal law 75% against 55%, criminal procedure 58% against 39% and juvenile justice 49% against 33%.

Research methods marks the widest gap, in 68% of bachelor’s lists and 7% of associate lists. In the other direction the widest is criminal investigation, in 67% of associate lists and 24% of bachelor’s lists. Criminal law is named by 75% of associate lists against 55% of bachelor’s lists. A course list is not certification to work as an officer, and Albany Technical College’s catalog says so for its own degree:

“Completion of the Law Enforcement Technology associate degree does not ensure certification of officer status in Georgia. Students must seek such certification from the Peace Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) Council.”

Albany Technical College

Each state sets its own education rule for officers, and the police degree guide sets the state rules side by side. The associate degree rankings compare the two-year programs.

Criminal Justice Major Requirements: Credits and Grades

Around the major sits the full degree. Of the 190 bachelor’s programs whose profiles state a total, 172 require 120 credits and 6 on the quarter system require 180 quarter credits. Another 10 ask for 121 to 128, and two state fewer: 61 units at California State University-Long Beach (a program for students who already have college credit) and 90 credits at Johnson & Wales University-Providence.

The major is a slice of those 120. Among the 27 programs whose profiles quote one figure for the credits in the major itself, the median is 42, about 35% of the degree, and 7 state exactly 42. The range runs from 27 hours of criminal justice courses at Alcorn State University, which adds required political science and sociology hours, to 82 credit hours at Fayetteville State University, where criminal justice courses fill everything outside the university core.

Passing a major course can take more than a passing grade: the profiles of 41 bachelor’s programs quote a minimum grade for some or all of the major’s courses. 31 set it at C, 8 at C-minus and 2 at B. The University of Northern Colorado draws the line plainly:

“The Criminology and Criminal Justice degree requires a grade of “C” or better (C- is not acceptable) for all courses (regardless of prefix) counting toward the major.”

University of Northern Colorado

Alcorn State University sets the floor at a B in its criminal justice courses and the political science and sociology courses beside them: “The satisfactory completion of each of the 27 hours of Criminal Justice courses, 6 hours of Political Science courses, and 3 hours of Sociology courses with a 3.0 (B) or better grade is a basic requirement.”

Concentrations: How Programs Divide the Major

Of the 305 profiled bachelor’s programs, 119 name concentrations, tracks or emphases on their pages. The median program with any offers 2, and Southern New Hampshire University names 12. Grouped by subject, the most common are:

• Law enforcement or policing: 43 programs
• Forensic science or crime scene work: 34 programs
• Corrections, probation or reentry: 32 programs
• Legal studies, law or courts: 31 programs
• Homeland security or emergency management: 26 programs
• Administration or leadership: 15 programs

At some schools the concentration is part of the degree. Bowie State University’s page describes its major this way: “The major includes 39 semester hours of 'core' coursework which emphasizes criminological theory, applied criminological analysis, and research methodology, and 21 semester hours of 'concentration' coursework”.

Three of these groups have rankings of their own: law enforcement degrees, corrections degrees and homeland security concentrations.

Internships and Capstones in the Criminal Justice Major

The profiles of 49 bachelor’s programs quote a sentence from the school that settles whether an internship is required. Of those, 24 require an internship or practicum of every major, 5 count it as one of several ways to meet a requirement, and 20 make it optional, an elective or a recommendation. Where a required placement comes with hours, it runs from 120 hours at the University of Central Oklahoma to 400 hours at Bowling Green State University:

“You are required to complete 400 hours (essentially 40 hours a week for 12 weeks) with an approved criminal justice organization.”

Bowling Green State University

The University of Georgia pairs a full-time placement with written work: “All Criminal Justice majors must complete a full semester internship that entails working full time in a criminal justice or related agency while completing an original research paper and writing a set of analytical essays.”

A capstone or senior seminar appears in 39% of bachelor’s course lists, against 14% of associate lists. At Stockton University every major takes one, as the last step of the core: “Students are required to take CRIM 3601: Criminal Justice Capstone in their senior year after completing the other eleven core courses with a grade of C or higher.”

The best colleges for criminal justice ranking and the online bachelor’s ranking link each program’s own page, and the careers section covers where the degree leads.

Common Questions

Sources for the Figures in This Post

• Program names, credit counts, formats, entry requirements and published prices: each school's own program pages, read between October 7, 2026 and October 14, 2026.
• Course areas, credits in the major, grade floors, concentrations and internship and capstone rules: the course titles and lines the program profiles quote from each school’s own pages, grouped into course areas and counted for this post. Each school quoted above is linked to the page its words come from.