All Degrees & Programs
With over 35 majors and minor areas of concentration, Elmira College lays the foundation for a diverse, cross discipline education, encouraging you to both specialize and explore.
Learn about our legal system and become a critical, creative thinker through our Criminal Justice degree program.
Crime is not simple. The Criminal Justice degree program at Elmira College aspires to cultivate creative and original thinking about one of the most challenging social problems of our time. Students are challenged from day one to understand and investigate criminological theory, learn criminal law and procedure, study the behaviors of victims and offenders, and even how to process a homicide scene.
Criminal justice is a discipline that explores both theory and practical application of the many sub-disciplines it encompasses. Core classes provide a mastery of the major works and theories of criminology, policing, corrections, judicial studies, quantitative analysis, and behavioral analysis. Students are then able to select from numerous electives to make their experience unique to their career goals.
Students with a Criminal Justice degree have gone on to federal, state, and local law enforcement, graduate school, law school, social work, and a host of other related professions. Students often double major in criminal justice and another major in the social sciences (i.e. psychology, social work, etc.). Recently, some students interested in attending law school have triple majored in criminal justice, legal studies, and political science – while still graduating early.
Students who have completed the Criminal Justice requirements will have knowledge of the four major areas of the criminal justice system, developed skills in critical analysis, and have knowledge of the unique issues faced by minorities, juveniles, and females in the Criminal Justice system, among other knowledge and skills.
A Criminal Justice degree can provide you with a variety of career options.
Students must complete an internship in their field of study while attending Elmira College.
Our faculty bring many years of real-world experience to the classroom.
Do you have questions about the Criminal Justice program? Please contact us.