Criminal Justice Education, A.A.

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Program Code: S.CJE.AA

Graduation requirement: 60 credit hours

The following sequence of courses is designed to provide transfer students with the necessary background to complete a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

Graduates may enter careers in municipal, county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies or in the private security field. Students interested in completing baccalaureate degrees in criminal justice and related majors are strongly encouraged to complete an A.A. degree prior to transfer.

To transfer into an approved baccalaureate degree program in criminal justice as juniors, students need to complete a minimum of 60 semester credits from the framework below. Since admission is competitive, completion of the recommended courses does not guarantee admission.

Students should plan their transfer programs with a Parkland academic success advisor and the catalog of the four-year college or university they plan to attend.

Program Notes

Recommended courses are designed to facilitate completion of the A.A. degree and transfer into a four-year college or university with junior standing in a chosen academic path. Students are advised to follow the recommendations.
CJS 101 is a prerequisite for all CJS courses except CJS 104 and CJS 127 . Suggested coursework is based on transfer patterns.

Recommended General Education Courses

The following courses are recommended to fulfill General Education requirements for this degree:

Mathematics
MAT 107 - General Education Mathematics 3 credit hours
OR MAT 108 - Introduction to Applied Statistics 3 credit hours
Interdisciplinary Physical and Life Sciences

(Note: SCI 108 and SCI 208 may be taken in any order, but both must be completed in order to fulfill the general education Physical and Life Sciences requirement.)
SCI 108 - Essentials of Forensic Science 4 credit hours
SCI 208 - Forensic Science II: Death Analysis 4 credit hours

Recommended Elective Courses

The following courses are recommended as options to fulfill general electives for this degree:

CJS 101 - Introduction to Criminal Justice 3 credit hours
CJS 102 - Police Administration and Operations 4 credit hours
CJS 203 - Criminal Law and Procedures I 3 credit hours
CJS 104 - Introduction to Corrections 3 credit hours
OR CJS 209 - Criminal Investigation 4 credit hours
CJS 127 - Juvenile Delinquency 3 credit hours
OR SOC 202 - Sociology of Deviant Behavior 3 credit hours
OR SOC 204 - Criminology 3 credit hours

Graduation Requirements for the Associate in Arts Degree

General Education Core Curriculum: 38 credit hours

Note: One course taken in Humanities, Fine Arts, or Social/Behavioral Sciences must be a Non-Western culture course.

Communications: 3 courses (9 credit hours)

Take all three:

COM 103 - Introduction to Public Speaking (IAI C2 900)
ENG 101 - Composition I (IAI C1 900) - Grade of C or higher required
ENG 102 - Composition II (IAI C1 901R) - Grade of C or higher required

Social/Behavioral Sciences: 3 courses (9 credit hours)

Take courses from at least two different subjects.
Choose from the
Social/Behavioral Sciences GECC course list

Humanities and Fine Arts: 3 courses (9 credit hours)

Take at least one course from Humanities and at least one course from Fine Arts.
Choose from the
Humanities and Fine Arts GECC course list

Mathematics: 1 course (3 credit hours)

Choose from the
Mathematics GECC course list

Physical and Life Sciences: 2 courses (8 credit hours)

Take one course from Physical Sciences and one course from Life Sciences. Or, take both of the Interdisciplinary Physical/Life Sciences courses.
Choose from the
Physical and Life Sciences GECC course list

Liberal Arts and Sciences: 3 credit hours

Take one:

LAS 188 - Diverse U.S. Cultural Expression 3 credit hours
OR LAS 189 - Introduction to Liberal Arts and Sciences 3 credit hours

General Elective Courses: 19 credit hours

Choose general elective courses to meet the 60 credit hour graduation requirement. If LAS 188 was chosen above, 22 hours of general elective courses will be needed to reach 60 total credit hours.

General electives include any transfer-focused courses (courses with an even middle number such as MGT 101 or ART 121).

Students should work with their advisor to choose electives that match their interests and transfer plans. Some four-year universities prefer transfer students to complete specific coursework. Contact the Academic Advising office for assistance with course planning.

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