Criminal Justice Minor

The Minor in Criminal Justice is designed to meet the needs of those students whose central academic or vocational are in areas peripheral to criminal justice. Students who are majoring in accounting, communications, computer science, political science, psychology, public administration or sociology may desire a secondary expertise in criminal justice to facilitate particular career goals. The Department of Criminal Justice maintains a strong minor program to meet the needs of these students.

Application to the Criminal Justice Minor Program

The Department of Criminal Justice considers applications to the Minor of Criminal Justice on an ongoing basis. Students may request the minor at any time by placing the request electronically through myWCU. Applicants should have an overall grade point average of at least 2.5. All students will be required to adhere to the Department of Criminal Justice Code of Conduct.

Advising

Minors are assigned to a faculty advisor to assist in course planning and selection. Copies of student advising sheets and program records are readily available to all students. Students are encouraged to meet with their advisors each semester.

Program Requirements (21 credits)

  • Required Courses (21 credits)
    • CRJ 110 Introduction to Criminal Justice
    • CRJ 210 Theories of Crime & Delinquency
    • CRJ 220 Corrections*
    • CRJ 287 Policing in America*
    • CRJ 300 Criminal Law**
    • CRJ 387 Criminal Justice Research**
    • CRJ 400 Criminal Procedure***
  • *Prerequisite of C or better in CRJ110
  • **Prerequisites: C or better in CRJ 110, CRJ 210 and WRT 200
  • ***Prerequisites: C or better in CRJ 300 and CRJ 387
  • Criminal Justice Practicum Criminal Justice minors are not required to take the Criminal Justice Practicum, but may do so during the summer. The summer Practicum may be taken as a six or twelve credit course.
  • Transfer Students Transfer students must take a minimum of twelve credits of criminal justice courses at West Chester University. Typically those courses must be the upper division required courses in the program: Criminal Law, Criminal Justice Research and Criminal Procedure.
  • Performance Minors must earn a minimum grade of C in all Criminal Justice courses and must maintain an overall grade point average of at least 2.0.
  • CRJ 387 (Criminal Justice Research) Students who take and earn a C or better in a social science research course in their majors may request a waiver of CRJ 387.  For instance, SOC 322 [Methods of Sociological Research], and PSY 246 [Research Methods in Psychology], may be substituted for CRJ 387. Under such circumstances, the students must take an additional upper division criminal justice elective.