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Criminal Justice Studies (B.A.)

Major: Criminal Justice Studies

Degree awarded: Bachelor of Arts

Total credit hours: 31

Internship/Practicum opportunities: Visit the Career Development Center for internship information.

About the program

The U.S. Criminal Justice system is intricate and complex, and affects the daily lives of almost every American. To succeed in this field, you will need both a broad perspective and outstanding critical thinking skills. Thiel College criminal justice studies majors will study a variety of related and supportive fields including sociology, political science, psychology, religion and philosophy.

Visit our Academic Catalog (2020-2021) for course listings.

Major Features

• Students will learn the major theoretical paradigms of criminal justice and the principles of social science research methodology.
• Gain an understanding of the complex interaction between social class, lack of wealth, criminality, and corrections in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender.
• Understand the criminal justice system and the role of law relative to issues such as restorative justice, terrorism, domestic and international crime and more.
• Learn about the diversity of criminal acts and the variety of criminal justice systems in a global context.

Scholarship Opportunities

Thiel College offers scholarships to students for reasons such as academic success, community service or involvement, exemplary leadership and more! The scholarships available to criminal justice studies majors are:

• William Randolph Hearst Scholarship Endowment Fund
• Elmer Mears Scholarship

Visit our Financial Aid page to learn more about the types of aid available to students.

Clubs & Organizations

It's easy to get involved on campus! Joining a student club or organization is an excellent way to meet others and gain leadership experience. A criminal justice studies major might be interested in the following clubs and orgs:

• Criminal Justice Club
• Students for Civic Participation (S.C.P.)
• Student Government Association
• Tomcat Political Society

Visit our Campus Life page to see a full list of student clubs and organizations.

Alumni & Careers

Developing expertise in our criminal justice system opens up so many different career paths! Thiel College criminal justice studies graduates have gone on to graduate studies and careers in criminal justice, criminology, law or social work or law enforcement or corrections.

Here are a few of the things you could do with your criminal justice studies degree from Thiel:

• IRS Criminal Investigator – earn between $49,822 and $81,607 rooting out crimes committed through misuse of our tax laws.*
• Customs and Border Patrol Agent - earn a medan salary of $81,130 working as an important element of our national security.**
• Secret Service Agent – earn a starting salary of $49,746 protecting the nation’s currency, thwarting cyber attacks, eliminating forgery, and even protecting the President.***

*www.irs.gov
** Glassdoor.com.salary.US-Customs-and-Boarder Protection Salaries-E41461.htm
***USAJobs.gov