Criminal Justice Major

The criminal justice curriculum at PLU is cumulative, such that the skills developed in lower-division courses set the groundwork for the skills to be developed in upper-division classes. We advise students to select their courses with this curricular philosophy in mind. Students are required to complete 40 credit hours in the major.

40 semester hours, including:

  • SOCI 101: Introduction to Sociology
  • SOCI 201: Introduction to Criminal Justice
  • SOCI 232: Research Methods
  • SOCI 336: Deviance
  • SOCI 413: Criminological Theory
  • SOCI 495: Internship
  • SOCI 499: Capstone
  • STAT 233: Introductory Statistics
  • 4 semester hours of a SOCI Inequality Elective course. Choose from SOCI 210 (Gender and Society), 240 (Social Problems), 332 (Race and Ethnicity), or 410 (Social Stratification).
  • 4 semester hours of a Criminal Justice Elective course. Choose from SOCI 226 (Delinquency and Juvenile Justice), 287 (ST in Criminal Justice), 387 (ST in Criminal Justice), SOCI 494 (Gender and Violence), BUSA 303 (Business Law and Ethics), PHIL 125 (Ethics and the Good Life), PHIL 128 (Politics and the Good Society), PHIL 227 (Philosophy and Race), or PHIL 229 (Human Rights).

Majors and minors are expected to maintain a minimum grade of C- in criminal justice and sociology classes.

Recommended Course Sequencing for Criminal Justice Majors
Declare your Major

If you would like to declare your major in criminal justice schedule a meeting with the department chair, Laura McCloud mcclouls@plu.edu.

Due to shared core curriculum, students may not double major in criminal justice and sociology. Students may major in criminal justice and minor in sociology.