Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice Curriculum

Students majoring in Criminal Justice must meet the following requirements for graduation:

College of Arts and Sciences Curriculum

The College of Arts and Sciences offers bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degrees. As the home of the liberal arts at Quinnipiac, CAS encourages students to pursue a balanced program of study across multiple disciplines. In pursuit of that goal, CAS imposes additional requirements beyond the University Curriculum.

All CAS students (both bachelor of science and bachelor of arts) must complete one foreign language through the 102-level. Foreign language classes may also count toward the UC Personal Inquiry II requirement.

Additionally, students earning a bachelor of arts must fulfill separate requirements for breadth and depth of study:

For the breadth requirement, students must complete at least 3 credits in each of the four CAS disciplinary areas other than the area of the student’s major. These areas are: fine arts, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences. For example, a student majoring in political science—a social science discipline—would complete at least 3 credits each in fine arts, humanities and natural science. A course taken to fulfill the CAS breadth requirement may not simultaneously fulfill any UC requirement.

For the depth requirement, students must complete at least 9 credits within a single subject area other than that of the major. (A “subject area” is identified with a catalog subject code, such as PL, CJ, WS, MA, etc.) CAS depth courses may also count toward UC requirements.

Students pursuing a bachelor of science, a double major, or certain accelerated degree programs are exempt from the CAS breadth and depth requirements, but must complete the foreign language requirement.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the program, students will achieve the following competencies:

1. Diversity – Students will recognize the influence that different forms of diversity have upon their worldview and how diversity impacts the criminal justice system.
2. Scientific Literacy – Students will be able to identify the steps of the scientific process, formulate scientific questions and distinguish between anecdotal and empirical evidence.
3. Social Responsibility – Students will understand how the criminal justice system functions as one part of the larger environmental system, understand that its current format is not inevitable but the products of historical factors and the interconnectedness of individual actions and societal decisions.
4. Communication – Students will be able to argue a clearly defined position with civility, using credible evidence with appropriate citation of sources.
5. Critical Thinking – Students will understand multiple perspectives on significant crime-related topics and the importance of examining these from multiple perspectives and the significance of utilizing different data sources when examining these concepts. Basic disciplinary theory and terminology are applied.

Admission Requirements: College of Arts and Sciences

The requirements for admission into the undergraduate College of Arts and Sciences programs are the same as those for admission to Quinnipiac University.

Admission to the university is competitive, and applicants are expected to present a strong college prep program in high school. Prospective first-year students are strongly encouraged to file an application as early in the senior year as possible, and arrange to have first quarter grades sent from their high school counselor as soon as they are available.

For detailed admission requirements, including required documents, please visit the Admissions page of this catalog.

Seamless Transfer Agreement with Gateway Community College (GCC), Housatonic Community College (HCC) and Norwalk Community College (NCC)

Under this Transfer Agreement, GCC, HCC and NCC graduates will be guaranteed admission into a bachelor’s degree program with third year (junior) status at Quinnipiac University on the condition that they: 

• Graduate with an associate in arts, an associate in science in business, College of Technology engineering science, nursing or an allied health degree with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 (this may be higher in specific programs). 
• Satisfy all other Quinnipiac University transfer admission requirements and requirements for intended major.

Quinnipiac University agrees to accept the general education embedded in these associate degree programs in accordance with Quinnipiac preferred choices for general education as meeting all the requirements of its undergraduate general education except for the Integrative Capstone Experience and where courses are encumbered by the major (e.g., General Chemistry for the Disciplinary Inquiry Natural Science requirement for a Biochemistry major).

Suggested Transfer Curriculum for BA in Criminal Justice

A minimum of 60 credits is required for transfer into the BA in Criminal Justice program. If possible, it is recommended students complete Introduction to Criminology, Introduction to Criminal Justice and Introduction to Sociology prior to transferring to Quinnipiac. Below is a recommended plan of study for the first two years prior to matriculation at Quinnipiac University.