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Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice

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Leverage your passion for criminal justice into an administrative or managerial role in law-enforcement by getting started on your MBA while still an undergrad!

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Our Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice program will prepare you for careers across various levels of law enforcement, victim advocacy, reentry services, corrections, probation, parole, and much more. 

The robust internship program at Caldwell University allows students the opportunity to intern at sites in the field to learn more about careers in criminal justice. Our internship sites have included New Jersey State Police, Drug Enforcement Administration, Caldwell Police Department, New Jersey State Parole Board, and Department of Homeland Security. Students have also pursued research internships to study various aspects in the criminal justice field under the direction of department faculty, including projects related to the preschool-to-prison pipeline, reentry and social support for the aging population across New Jersey, and racial disparities in the criminal legal system. 

Outside of academics, opportunities abound for students to expand their knowledge of the criminal justice system with their peers. The Criminal Justice and Sociology Club remains an active and fun place for our students! Recent events include Drug Enforcement Administration Women in Law Enforcement Session, Coffee with a Cop, and our annual Murder Mystery Night.  

If you want to join a community of dedicated faculty and students, enjoy small class sizes, and gain applied experience in the criminal justice field, Caldwell University is the place for you!

Statement of Outcomes Assessment

Two fundamental learning goals of the sociology and criminal justice major are student competence in research methods and theory. The Department meets these goals through our courses in social science research methods, criminology, and sociological theory. Methods of Social Research I and II are required for both sociology and criminal justice majors, while Sociological Theory is required of sociology majors and Criminology is required of criminal justice majors. After completing the required outcomes assessment courses, sociology and criminal justice majors should be able to:

1. describe and apply classical and contemporary theories in at least one area of social reality;

2. describe and evaluate classical and contemporary theories of crime causation and apply these theories to real world phenomena;

3. identify basic methodological approaches and describe the general role of methods in building sociological knowledge;

4. design a research study in an area of choice;

5. develop proficiency in use of statistics for the comprehensive understanding of professional journals;

6. apply statistical skills to conduct data analysis using secondary data.

In each of the required theory and research courses, the instructor of the outcomes assessment course is responsible for awarding student grades; however, outcomes assessment is the shared responsibility of all full-time department faculty. It is at the discretion of the individual instructor whether or not to consider departmental faculty evaluations of student work in their courses when awarding student grades for the course.

For sociology majors, departmental faculty will review and evaluate the research paper submitted in Sociological Theory and the final paper submitted for Methods of Social Research I and Methods of Social Research II. For criminal justice majors, departmental faculty will critique and assess the research paper submitted in Criminology and the final paper submitted for Methods of Social Research I and Methods of Social Research II.

For a student to pass his/her outcomes assessment requirement, a majority of the departmental faculty must agree that the quality of the work done for both courses demonstrates competence. If a student fails to meet the necessary criteria for any of their outcomes assessment paper requirements, the student may: (1) revise the written work, submit a new paper for consideration prior to the end of the semester during which the student is enrolled in the course, and give an oral presentation of the paper before the department faculty reviewers; (2) request an Incomplete (in accordance with the Academic Policies set forth in the Caldwell University Undergraduate Catalog), revise the written work, submit a new paper for consideration within the allotted time period, and give an oral presentation of the paper before the department faculty reviewers; or (3) repeat the course (in accordance with the Academic Policies set forth in the Caldwell University Undergraduate Catalog).

It is possible that a student may pass his/her outcomes assessment but receive less than a C grade for the course in which the outcomes assessment work was done. In such a case, the student does not have to go through the outcomes assessment process again; however, the course has to be repeated, since students must achieve at least a C grade in all required courses for the major.

It is also conceivable that a student may fail the outcomes assessment process, yet achieve a C or better in the course in which the outcomes assessment work was required. In such a case, the student does not have to repeat the course, but must follow guidelines outlined above for students who do not pass their outcome assessment requirement.

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