Criminal Justice Studies (B.A., B.S.)

Departmental Requirements (18 hours)

• CJUS 201 - Introduction to Criminal Justice (C) [SGR #3, HSDC]
• CJUS 205 - Information Literacy in the Discipline
• CJUS 351 - Criminology
• CJUS 431 - Criminal Law (C)
• CJUS 433 - Criminal Procedure (C)
• CJUS 489 - Capstone

Electives (15 hours)

Any CJUS course not required above may serve as an elective, with a maximum of six internship hours permitted.

Criminal Justice/Double Major

A student majoring in any discipline may obtain a double major in criminal justice by completing 33 semester hours of criminal justice courses as stipulated above.

Students double-majoring in Criminal Justice and Political Science take either CJUS 205 or POLS 205 (but not both) and either CJUS 489 or POLS 489 (but not both), for a combined major totaling 60 credit hours.

Four-Year Program Guides and Costs

USD encourages students to take 15 credits per semester or 30 credits within the year in order to graduate in four years. To help students complete their academic degree program in four years, we provide a sample academic plan. Please work with your academic advisor to confirm your plan.

• Criminal Justice, B.A. 4-year plan guide  
• Community College for Sioux Falls Criminal Justice, B.A. 4-year plan guide   
• Criminal Justice, B.S. 4-year plan guide  
• Community College for Sioux Falls Criminal Justice, B.S. 4-year plan guide   

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Criminal Behavior: Students will understand the origins of criminal behavior, its consequences for society, and society’s responses to crime.
2. Core Criminal Justice Institutions: Students will understand the history, role and functions of the core criminal justice institutions: law enforcement, corrections, and courts.
3. Inequality in Criminal Justice: Students will understand and analyze inequalities within the criminal justice system, including disparities in race, gender, class, ability and sexuality.
4. Causes of Injustice: Students will analyze how social and economic disadvantage, privilege and discrimination contribute to inequalities and injustices in the criminal justice system.
5. Area of Specialization: Students will gain basic factual information and understanding within an area of specialization: criminology, corrections, constitution and criminal law, law enforcement, or victimology.
6. Collection and Analysis of Evidence: Students will systematically explore issues, objects or works through the collection and analysis of evidence.
7. Locate, Assess and Synthesize Scholarship: Students will demonstrate the ability to locate, assess and synthesize scholarly writing on criminology, corrections, constitutional and criminal law, law enforcement, and victimology.
8. Information: Students will learn to identify, locate, evaluate and use effectively and responsibly information to understand problems of criminal justice.
9. Work in Teams: Students will interact with other students and evaluate the effort put into team tasks, interactions with others, and the quantity and quality made to team discussions.
10. Values, Ethics and Morals: Students will demonstrate the ability to evaluate their own value systems, ethics, and morals within the context of criminal justice thought generally and specifically in their career choices.
11. Information Literacy: Students will recognize when there is a need for information and identify, evaluate and effectively and responsibly use and convey that information to address the need or problem at hand.
12. Teamwork: Students will interact with other students and evaluate the effort put into team tasks, interactions with others, and the quantity and quality made to team discussions.
13. Problem-Solving: Students will design, evaluate, and implement a strategy to answer an open-ended question or achieve a desired goal.
14. Ethical Reasoning: Students will be able to assess their own ethical values and the social context of problems, recognize ethical issues in a variety of settings, think about how different ethical perspectives might be applied to the ethical dilemmas and consider the ramifications of alternative actions.
15. Inquiry and Analysis: Students will be able to systematically explore issues, objects or works through the collection and analysis of evidence that results in informed conclusions or judgments, and break down complex topics or issues into parts to gain a better understanding of them.

State Authorization - It Matters Where You Live

If your learning placement course (internship, externship, clinical, rotation, practicum, independent study, study away, etc.) or your online course will be taken outside South Dakota, please reference the State Authorization webpage.

State Authorization