Criminal Justice, B.A.
The Criminal Justice major teaches students the processes and procedure for the American criminal justice system in the areas of Law Enforcement, Courts, Corrections, and Juvenile Justice through classroom instruction and practical experience. In keeping with the mission of Bethel University, the criminal justice major also is dedicated to helping students develop a Christian world view in working within the criminal justice system through discussion of work ethics and justice.
The following is a list of careers in the field of Criminal Justice. The list is by no means exhaustive, and many more possibilities for careers and employment exist: police officer, sheriff’s deputy, probation officer, corrections officer, private investigator, criminalist, forensic investigator, forensics science technician, and paralegal.
Program Requirements
Bethel Core
| BIBL 215 | Old Testament Literature | 3 |
| BIBL 216 | New Testament Literature | 3 |
| ENGL 101 | Written Communication II | 3 |
| ENGL 102 | Written Communication III | 3 |
| MATH 111 | Basic Probability & Statistics | 3 |
| PHIL 250 | Introduction to Philosophy | 3 |
| PSYC 182 | General Psychology | 3 |
| SOC 151 | Principles of Sociology | 3 |
| THEO 110 | Exploring the Christian Faith | 3 |
| | | |
| COMM and Foreign Language | Choose 6 credits from the following: | 6 |
| | Foreign Language (two semesters) | 6 |
| | OR | |
| | Foreign Language (one semester) | 3 |
| | AND | |
| COMM 171 | Speech Communication | 3 |
| | | |
| | Choose two of three options for a total of 6 hours: | 6 |
| FA/THTR/ART/Music | Elective(s) | 3 |
| HIST | History Elective | 3 |
| LIT | Literature Elective | 3 |
| | | |
| | Choose three credits from the following: | 3 |
| BIOL 115 | Human Biology | 3 |
| | OR | |
| NS 110 | Environmental Science | 3 |
| | OR | |
| NS 291 | Physical World | 3 |
| | OR | |
| | Any BIOL,CHEM, PHYS | 3-4 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 42 |
Major
Cognates - choose six hours
CRMJ 303 Criminal Justice Seminar may be repeated once and counted as a cognate in the degree program, if the topics of the two seminar classes are different.
Electives
Electives needed to complete degree
Total Credit Hours: 120