Criminal Justice, Continuing Studies, B.A.

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Mount St. Mary’s criminal justice program provides a rigorous and liberal arts education to those seeking a professional career in the criminal justice field, including law enforcement, probation and parole, corrections and other relevant fields.

A key feature of the criminal justice program is its emphasis on the connections between theory and practice. There are three guiding principles: (1) there can be no criminal justice without a commitment to the principles and practices of social justice, (2) technical proficiency is crucial to a well-run system of justice, and (3) a liberal education leads to both a greater level of professionalism as well as to a full and meaningful personal life. As such, this program aims to educate the whole person.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Mount St. Mary’s develops criminal justice professionals who are able to:

understand the basic concepts and theories of the discipline (proficient)

examine their own motivation for wanting to work in the field (reflective)

demonstrate commitment to the diversity, dignity, equality and rights of the individual (ethical)

demonstrate leadership as active participants in the criminal justice field(leading)

respond to the demands of an increasingly diverse technological and global society (adaptive)

Program Requirements

The program requires a minimum of 42 credits, including 30 credits in required courses and 12 credits in electives. Criminal justice courses in the Mount’s Department of Sociology are in the Course Descriptions section.

Six 300-400 level required CJUST courses (18 credits) must be taken at Mount St. Mary’s. There are no equivalent substitutions at community colleges for courses listed below.

Total CJ Major Required Credits: 30

Criminal Justice Electives

In addition to the required courses, four electives (12 credits) must be completed. Of these four, at least two of them must be at the 300-400 level, and all 300-400 level electives must be taken at the Mount. Below is a list of some of the possible CJUST electives offered by the Mount.