Academic Catalog

Criminal Justice (B.S.) 2023-2024 Catalog Year
College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Justice Studies

The Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Criminal Justice program provides an extensive overview of the criminal justice system including law enforcement, corrections, the judiciary, juvenile justice, probation and parole, and international justice. The program builds upon a solid liberal arts core to achieve a balanced criminal justice perspective including an emphasis upon the victim, the offender, the criminal justice system, and society. Students are provided a set of core courses and experiences to orient them to the broader criminal justice system. Thereafter, they have the opportunity to specialize in law enforcement, corrections, legal studies, juvenile justice, international justice, or management in criminal justice. This program is available through distance learning via the internet.

Program Progression and Additional Graduation Requirements
  • Attend an orientation session.
  • Sign an Advising Agreement document.

In addition to the program requirements, students must:

  • Complete a minimum of 120 credits.
  • Complete a minimum of 48 of the 120 credits at the upper division (3000 - 4999) level.
  • Earn a cumulative GPA of 2.0 for all coursework attempted at FGCU.
  • Satisfy the College-Level Skills and foreign language entrance requirements.
  • Satisfy the Service Learning requirement. See: https://www.fgcu.edu/studentlife/servicelearning/.
  • Complete the Civic Literacy requirement.
  • Satisfy the residency requirement: 30 of the last 60 credits must be completed at FGCU.
  • Complete the summer course enrollment requirement.
  • Submit an Application for Graduation by the deadline listed in the FGCU Academic Calendar.
Program Requirements
  1. FGCU General Education Program (https://www.fgcu.edu/academics/undergraduatestudies/generaleducation/)
    To prevent or minimize excess hours, select general education courses that satisfy common prerequisite requirements for your intended major.

  2. Common Prerequisites
    None.

  3. Required Courses in the Major (36 credits)
    A minimum grade of C is required in each course

    Any lower division (1000-2999 level) course with prefix CCJ, CJC, CJE, CJL, PLA (3)
    CCJ 3095 Professional Development in CJ (3)
    CCJ 3117 Theories of Criminal Behavior (3)
    CCJ 3453 Organization and Administration of Criminal Justice (3)
    CCJ 3700 Meth Criminal Justice Research (3)
    CCJ 3701 Criminal Justice Data Analysis (3)
    CCJ 4054 Ethics in the Crim Justice Sys (3)
    CCJ 4450 Ldrship & Mgmt in CJ Agencies (3)
    CCJ 4934 Senior Seminar (3)
    CCJ 4940 Internship (3)**
    CJJ 4015 Juvenile Justice System (3)
    CJL 4114 Substantive and Con. Crim. Law (3)

  4. Restricted Electives in the Major (9 credits)
    A minimum grade of C is required in each course

    Select 9 credits from the following:
    Any upper division (3000-4999 level) course(s)* with any of the following prefixes: CCJ, CJC, CJE, CJJ, CJL, DSC (3)
    PLA 3205 Courtroom Techniques (3)
    PLA 4570 Globalization and the Rule of Law (3)
    SYP 3520 Sociology of Crime (3)

    *Courses used to fulfill required courses in the major cannot also be used to fulfill restricted electives.
    **CCJ 4940 Internship can be taken for a maximum of 6 credits total, 3 of which fulfill required courses in the major; up to three additional credits can be used as restricted electives.

  5. University Requirements (3 credits)
    IDS 3920 University Colloquium (3)

  6. Additional Electives - as needed to reach total credits required for the degree
Total Credits Required: 120

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