B.A. in Criminal Justice

The capstone seminar course is designed for students to identify and analyze real-life issues facing criminal justice agencies, as well as techniques for developing and proposing solutions to constituents. Finally, our optional Washington, D.C. trip aims to enrich our student's knowledge of law enforcement and social justice careers by visiting different agencies every year in Washington, D.C. including the FBI headquarters, Justice Policy Institute (JPI), DC Reentry Task Force, and the Vera Institute of Justice, to name a few.

Saint Xavier University is dedicated to providing top-quality education that is intentionally designed to develop your skills and expertise as you prepare for the next step in your education or career. The learning outcomes reflect the specific competencies that you will gain from our criminal justice (CJ) program while the curriculum map portrays how these competencies will shape and prepare you for the real world.

Students will be able to:

• Illustrate an understanding of the moral, philosophical, historical and scientific dimensions of criminal justice issues.
• Think critically and explain the basic principles and methods of research in criminal justice.
• Articulate an understanding of victimology and criminological theory.
• Demonstrate a capacity to think critically and communicate effectively about issues in the criminal justice system.

Why study criminal justice at SXU?

• Our faculty have expertise in criminal justice and create challenging courses that include issues within the criminal legal system.
• Small class sizes allow for more interaction amongst students and a closer student-professor relationship.
• Our courses touch on current day criminal justice topics and events that allow our students to make knowledgeable decisions in everyday life.
• The criminal justice program provides many opportunities for you to receive credit for professional internships in Chicago, and the surrounding area.

Criminal Justice offers courses and programs examining the organization and processes of human social behavior and belief systems. The roles of individuals in both the maintenance and change of these arrangements are also explored. Please review the program requirements and course descriptions from the SXU Academic Catalog for more detailed information.

Program Requirements

The minor in criminal justice involves 18 credit-hours, 9 hours of which must be taken at this university. A grade of C or better is required for courses in the minor of criminal justice.