Criminal Justice

Career potential

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, criminal justice job opportunities will continue to rise through 2014. Earning a bachelor's degree in criminal justice may help lay the groundwork for becoming a federal or state enforcement officer, a police officer, a sheriff's deputy or another type of law enforcement official. After receiving your degree, you will need further training at a police academy or through another department of law enforcement.

You may enter the corporate world as a loss prevention officer or a contingency manager, assisting in investigations of internal theft and fraud.

In addition, you may work as a detention or custodial officer in a city, county, state or federal jail or prison. You may serve as a probation or parole officer or a victim's advocate at the county, state or federal level. With additional graduate school training, you may become a criminal lawyer, an administrator with a criminal justice agency or a researcher in crime and law enforcement.

UNT's criminal justice alumni are found in many criminal justice agencies serving the Dallas-Fort Worth region. Alumni include police chiefs, state law enforcement officers, special agents at federal agencies and supervisory staff at community corrections agencies.

UNT's Career Center can help you prepare to pursue your career. The center has information about jobs and employers, and the staff can help you with resume and letter writing, job search strategies and interview preparation.

Majoring in criminal justice

As a criminal justice major, you will take required courses in the history of crime and justice in the United States, police systems, administration of criminal justice agencies, correctional systems, criminal justice and public policy, criminal law, criminal procedure, criminology, ethical and diversity issues in criminal justice, and research methods. You will also take courses in psychology and sociology.

You may take electives that cover alcohol and drug abuse, community corrections, corporate security, correctional case management, juvenile justice, offender behavior and rehabilitation, and organized crime. Seminars focusing on such diverse topics as juvenile gangs, terrorism, victims' issues and violence are also offered.

UNT's criminal justice faculty members include nationally recognized experts in policing, juvenile justice, corrections law and practice, criminological theory, victims' issues, computer crime and forensics. Faculty members also have expertise in offender behavior and research methodology. Their books and articles are used in classrooms across the nation, and some have been cited as "landmark" research efforts.

Getting hands-on experience

You may go on field trips to jails and prisons in some classes, or to a courtroom to observe a criminal trial.

As a criminal justice major, you may qualify for a special class in which you will intern at a parole, police or probation department; a federal law enforcement organization; a jail or prison; a juvenile detention center; a prosecutor's office or a law firm; or an alcohol and drug treatment program. This internship class provides academic credit, and you may take it several times.

Upon completion of 12 semester hours at UNT with at least a 2.5 GPA, you may work in a job related to your major through UNT's office of Cooperative Education and Internships. You may earn academic credit and money and gain valuable work experience.

Co-op employers pay well, and the jobs usually last several semesters - often until graduation. More than 800 employers work with this office to provide excellent learning opportunities, many of which become permanent, full-time positions upon graduation.

Preparing for UNT

If you are a high school student, we suggest you prepare for college by becoming computer proficient and taking:

• English … 4 years
• Math … 4 years
• Social science – economics, geography, government, history … 4 years
• Science … 3 years
• Foreign language … 3 years
• Fine arts … 1 year

You will need to take courses in most of these subjects under the university core curriculum required of all undergraduates, in addition to your major courses. Talk with your high school counselor about preparing for college, including the entrance exams (SAT Reasoning Test or ACT) that you should take during your junior year.

As a benefit for transfer students, UNT participates in the Texas Common Course Numbering System. This system makes it easier to transfer credits for general academic courses from one Texas institution to another.

If you're attending a Texas community college, you should consult the UNT Transfer Guide, the UNT Undergraduate Catalog and an academic counselor to discuss your degree plan. Proper planning will help you receive the maximum amount of transfer credits.

Charting your path with academic advising

The College of Public Affairs and Community Service has full-time criminal justice Undergraduate Advisors who will help you plan your class schedule each semester and select courses necessary to earn your degree. They are located in Chilton Hall, Room 289. The Department of Criminal Justice's main office is in Chilton Hall, Room 265.

Curious about courses and other features of this major?
See the current catalog.