Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice and Criminology 

Ball State's degree in criminal justice and criminology offers a giant competitive advantage as you advance your career—it can be customized to match your career goals. The list of required courses has been shortened, so that you can choose from more elective courses. Let your advisor know if you want your degree plan to specialize in policing, courts, victimology, corrections, or special populations.

As you may know, criminal justice employers are increasingly looking for employees with bachelor’s degrees. Ball State’s answer to this need is a program that prepares you with strong writing, communication, leadership, and interpersonal skills. For instance, to be a probation officer in the state of Indiana requires a bachelor’s degree, and many police departments and law enforcement agencies strongly prefer one for their officers even if they do not technically require it.

According to U.S. News & World Report, the expansion of the Department of Homeland Security after 9/11 has increased the need for all levels of law enforcement and criminal justice.

“Criminal justice continues to be a solid area for employment even during slow economic times,” notes the news magazine, which provides authoritative sources of college and university rankings. “Some of the jobs that command large salaries require a bachelor’s degree while others need a master’s degree or higher.”

A bachelor’s degree is required for most state and federal positions and is becoming increasingly important for municipal and county positions. Personnel with less than four years of college may still be hired in some municipal and county agencies, but career advancement is often limited.

Our criminal justice and criminology majors often land jobs before graduation.

The criminal justice and criminology field is a crowded marketplace. But a bachelor’s degree can lead you in a number of career directions, including professional positions in probation departments, law enforcement agencies, correctional institutions for juvenile or adults, parole offices, or community treatment and service settings.

While the list of potential occupations is substantial, the more frequently chosen careers include the following:

• Law enforcement positions are found in the city, town, state, federal police departments and agencies.
• Probation officers are employed in local, state, and federal courts where they handle cases of offenders being brought to the attention of the courts.
• Institutional counselors work in adult and juvenile correctional institutions as counselors and social service providers.
• Correctional officers are employed in security institutions as custodial staff to provide security and safety of institution’s population and staff.
• Parole officers are responsible for the supervision of adult and juvenile defenders released by state or federal agencies.
• Victim or witness advocates are employed in local, state, and federal agencies to assist victims of crimes and witnesses to crime.

Plus, you also may find careers as:

• Research personnel in law enforcement agencies
• Research personnel in correctional agencies
• Auxiliary personnel in the field of communication
• Auxiliary personnel in laboratory work
• Private investigative agencies
• Counselors
• Rehabilitation counselors
• Staff personnel in private youth agencies
• Staff personnel in halfway houses
• Staff personnel in residential treatment centers
• Corporate security
• Crime scene investigator
• Lobbyist
• Paralegal
• Secret Service, CIA, or FBI professionals

Considering Law School?

If law school is in your future, criminal justice and criminology is an excellent pre-law program, especially if you have an interest in public law such as prosecution, defense, and government legal representation.

National Reputation

Ball State’s bachelor of science degree in criminal justice and criminology has a national reputation because of its relevant and demanding curriculum, which is taught by a faculty who have a mix of professional experience and high-quality academic qualifications. These faculty members believe in being mentors and bringing positive and continuous improvements to the criminal justice system and related private sector entities.

In addition, you will be studying from a university ranked and well-regarded for its innovation and effectiveness in online education.

Priced Competitively

Ball State’s programs are priced competitively, giving you extra value for your time and money. Plus, more than 75 percent of Ball State students, including many adult learners who work full time, receive some form of financial aid.

Accredited by ACJS

Our program was one of the first in the nation to be accredited by the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS), an international association that promotes professional and scholarly activities in the field.

Most degrees in criminal justice and criminology require classes in corrections, policing, criminology, applied research methods, introductory data analysis techniques, and courses related to law and society.

Popular electives include juvenile justice; decision-making and ethics; criminal law and procedure; community corrections; police administration; victimology; and race, ethnicity and gender. Ball State’s program includes those courses.

Where we’re different is that we emphasize best practices and data-driven decision-making, ethics, and cultural competency courses. We also focus on theory, politics, public perceptions, policy development, and policy implementation. Recent shifts by the justice system have put the focus on these core issues, and so have we.

This degree reveals the theoretical, philosophical, and practical aspects of the law as well as the policies that directly and indirectly impact society, social control, and public safety. Program priorities include:

• understanding the functions and processes of the criminal justice system
• learning the role of criminology as it informs public policy
• identification and adoption of best practices

Knowledgeable and experienced faculty are behind the strong reputation of the criminal justice and criminology program at Ball State. You will have the opportunity of interacting one-on-one with our professors.

Same as on Our Main Campus

Classes are taught by the same faculty who teach criminal justice and criminology on campus. They are Ph.D.s, active in research, and early adopters of online teaching. We adhere to the nationally recognized standard of best practices for online learning via the Quality Matters Program. Through this, Ball State faculty have access to ongoing professional development to ensure that courses lead to successful student outcomes.

Professionally Active

Ball State faculty are also professionally active within the criminal justice and criminology field, serving on national and international boards and committees, and participating in national and international organizations which directly influence criminal justice policy.

Diverse Experiences in the Field to Benefit You

Our criminal justice and criminology professors have criminal justice field experience in a variety of public and private sector positions.

To the classroom, they bring their diverse experiences from the field, where they have researched and pursued passions in juvenile justice, corrections, crisis intervention, hate crimes, research methods, adult drug courts, policing, victimology, mental illness, and other areas.

You will take the following 24 credits of criminal justice and criminology foundation courses which give you a foundation for whatever you choose to specialize in for your upper division electives.

• CJC 101 Introduction to Criminal Justice (3 credits)
• CJC 102 Introduction to Criminology (3 credits)
• CJC 211 Race, Gender, and Crime (3 credits)
• CJC 220 Research Methods in Criminal Justice (3 credits)
• CJC 229 Ethics and Decision Making (3 credits)
• CJC 251 Criminal Law (3 credits)
• CJC 301 Evaluation Research in Criminal Justice (3 credits)
• CJC 495 Capstone in Criminal Justice (3 credits)

Your academic advisor will work with you to put together a customized plan of study to make sure you get through your courses at the pace that works best for you and that will ensure you are picking up any prerequisites in the right order.

Academic Advising electives provide students with in-depth examination of topics relevant to the criminal justice system and the application of criminology to the profession. Your advisor can help you choose the best ones that applicable to a specialization of your choosing.

Choose 24 credits from:

• CJC 211 Race, Gender, and Crime (3 credits)
• CJC 229 Decision-Making and Ethics in Criminal Justice (3 credits)
• CJC 230 Introduction to Policing (3 credits)
• CJC 240 Introduction to Corrections (3 credits)
• CJC 250 Introduction to Courts (3 credits)
• CJC 309 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency (3 credits)
• CJC 332 Victimology (3 credits)
• CJC 333 Policing in a Free and Diverse Society (3 credits)
• CJC 340 Institutional Corrections (3 credits)
• CJC 341 Community Corrections (3 credits)
• CJC 350 Criminal Evidence and Procedure (3 credits)
• CJC 397 Constitutional Issues in Criminal Justice (3 credits)
• CJC 398 Human Services in Criminal Justice (3 credits)
• CJC 399 Special Populations in Criminal Justice (3 credits)
• CJC 410 Special Topic in Criminal Justice and Criminology (3 credits)
• CJC 479 Professional Experience in Criminal Justice and Criminology (3 credits)      
• CJC 490 Independent Study in Criminal Justice (3 credits)

Related Online Minors

If you have an interest in individuals with behavioral disorders or cognitive disabilities, you may want to consider online minors in applied behavioral analysis or autism to complement your bachelor’s degree.