Influence change and make a difference in lives with a career in the criminal justice system. You’ll explore the American justice system in depth and gather real-world experiences to prepare you for success.
At Delaware Valley University, your criminal justice curriculum provides a well-rounded education that touches on many disciplines. You will gain an understanding of the philosophical ideals of the American system of justice and take specialized courses to prepare you with the knowledge, professional skills, and state-of-the-art techniques required for career success. You will also study sociology, psychology, business management, liberal arts and the science of investigation. Our program provides excellent preparation for a variety of careers in the American criminal justice system.
At DelVal, you will learn by doing as you take interesting courses taught by engaging faculty. You will have many opportunities for experiential learning through internships, job shadowing, trips, crime scene investigation and more.
- Begin your first semester with crucial foundational courses, like Introduction to Criminal Justice, and Introduction to Psychology.
- Finish the year with American Police, Introduction to Sociology, and other freshman-level courses.
- As you progress, you will take more in-depth courses such as International Crime and Terrorism and Juvenile Justice and Penology.
- You will have opportunities to apply classroom material through field trips, hands-on classroom activities, and other career preparation experiences.
- This is a 4 + 1 program where you have the option to take graduate courses in your senior year and earn your B.S. and M.S. in just 5 years!
Our students graduate with in-depth knowledge of a range of topics within criminal justice as well as valuable hands-on experience.
Seeing firsthand how beneficial our police are to local communities made me feel great about my career choice and would not have been possible without the E360 program."
Our criminal justice administration B.S. program fuses real-world experience with in-depth exploration of society and the American justice system.
Sample Courses:
- Introduction to Criminal Justice
- Criminology
- Victimology
- Philosophical Issues in Criminal Law
- Criminal Justice Research Methods
- Crime Prevention Planning, & Analysis
- American Police
- Introduction to Corrections
- Juvenile Delinquency
- Criminalistics
- Probation, Parole, and Community Corrections
- International Crime and Terrorism
- Women, Crime, and the Criminal Justice System
- The Court Process
- Criminal Law
- Organized and White Collar Crime
- Drugs, Crime, and Society
Recommended Minors
- Communication
- Policy Studies
- Pre-law
The Experience360 Program in criminal justice gives you the opportunity to apply classroom lessons to real-world activities through internships, career exploration experiences, student research, study abroad, leadership development and more.
Career Paths
Perhaps the most important question you can ask of a degree program is what it can do for you in terms of landing a career. Luckily, there’s certainly no shortage of areas in which our criminal justice graduates may progress thanks to the expertise amassed throughout the program. Some opportunities our graduates pursue include:
- Law enforcement
- Corrections
- Probation and parole
- Security
- Court system positions such as paralegal or jury consultant
- DelVal's 4+1 program will allow you to complete a master's in criminal justice in just one additional year!
If you aspire to pursue further education after earning your bachelor's degree and study topics such as law or policy studies our program provides an excellent foundation to do so.
Criminal Justice Student Learning Outcomes
SLO 1
Students’ application and their understanding of principles, concepts and behavior to criminal justice management issues and problems, including criminal justice and legal terminology will be measured by a concept exam administered in course CJ3250.
SLO 2
Students’ demonstration of their understanding of issues and problems in criminal justice will be measured through the application of analysis, critical thinking and problem solving in an experiential learning capstone course (CJ4240).
SLO 3
Students’ demonstration of mastery of essential concepts, knowledge and methods of criminal justice management, supervision and leadership will be assessed by successfully completing objective examinations and problem-solving assignments via a pre-test/post-test concept exam administered to incoming freshmen and graduating seniors.
SLO 4
Students’ demonstration of their awareness of the most current topics and timely information regarding the field of criminal justice will be assessed via a concept exam with a grading rubric for CJ3250.
Office: Lasker Hall 310
