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Courses

Penn State's online Associate Degree in Criminal Justice (CRIMJ) program emphasizes social science perspectives to the study of criminal justice.

Deputy Sheriff's Training and Act 120 Program

Students with ACT 120, Pennsylvania State Police, or Municipal Police Training transcripts may receive up to 16.5 credits for the following courses:

CRIMJ 100:  Introduction to Criminal Justice (3 credits)
CRIMJ 220:  Courts and the Prosecution Process (3 credits)
CRIMJ 210: Policing in America (3 credits)
CAS 203:  Interpersonal Communication (3 credits)
KINES 067:  Physical Conditioning (1.5 credits) 
NURS 203:  First Aid and CPR  (3.0 credits)  

Training from other states will be reviewed upon request.

Course List - Associate in Science in Criminal Justice 

Prescribed Courses (26 credits)
Title Abbreviation Description Credits
Introduction to Criminal Justice CRIMJ 100 Overview of the criminal justice system, including legal foundations, processing and correction of offenders, extent and types of crime, victims. 3 credits
Introduction to Ethics PHIL 103 Ethical theory about virtue, duty, autonomy, and life quality applied to moral problems, including character, violence, oppression, abortion, and suicide. 3 credits
Criminology CRIMJ 12 Explanations and measurement of crime; criminal law; characteristics of criminals and victims; violent, property, white-collar, organized, and sexual crimes. 3 credits
Race and Ethnic Relations SOC 119 Historical patterns and current status of racial and ethnic groups; inequality, competition, and conflict; social movements; government policy. 4 credits
Policing in America CRIMJ 210 Police organization and operations in America.

Prerequisite: CRIMJ 100 or concurrent CRIMJ 100		 3 credits
Courts and the Prosecution Process CRIMJ 220 Purpose and function of criminal courts in society, organization, jurisdiction and staffing; prosecution, adjudication, and sentencing of offenders.

Prerequisite: CRIMJ 100		 3 credits
Corrections in America CRIMJ 230 Punishment and treatment of sentenced offenders, correctional institution organization, staffing, inmates, and subcultures. 3 credits
Statistical Analysis for the Social Sciences


or


Elementary Statistics		 CRIMJ 260


or


STAT 200		 Methods of collection, presentation, and analysis of quantitative data in the social science, procedures, interpretation, and application. Prerequisite: 2 units of high school algebra, and CRIMJ 100, or permission of the program

Prerequisite: 2 units of High School Algebra and CRIMJ 100 or permission of the program

or

Descriptive statistics, frequency distributions, probability, binomial and normal distributions, statistical inference, linear regression, and correlation. Prerequisite: 2 units of high school algebra

Prerequisite: 2 units of high school algebra and Placement into MATH 021 or higher

3 credits

or

4 credits

*May be satisfied by designated courses that also meet other degree or General Education requirements.

Additional Courses (3 credits)
Title Abbreviation Description Credits
Research Methods in Criminal Justice CRIMJ 250W Fundamental concepts of social science research including design, measurement, sampling, and interpretation of the study of crime, law, and justice. 3 credits
Research Methods in Sociology SOC 207 Experiential-based course covering the four main social research methods: available data, survey research, experiments, and field research. 3 credits
General Education (21 credits; 12 credits included in requirements for major)
Description Credits
Arts — GA 3 credits
Humanities — GH 3 credits
Natural Sciences — GN 3 credits
Social and Behavioral Sciences — GS 3 credits
Writing and Speaking — GWS 3 credits
Quantification — GQ 3 credits
Any General Education course, including Integrative Studies (Inter-domain or Linked courses) 3 credits
United States Cultures (US), or International Cultures (IL) or combined designation (US; IL) 3 credits*
Writing Across the Curriculum (W, M, X,Y) 3 credits*
Elective Courses (26 credits)
Description Credits
Courses chosen in consultation with an adviser. 27 credits

Course Availability

If you're ready to see when your courses will be offered, visit our public LionPATH course search (opens in new window) to start planning ahead.