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Curriculum Overview
The Criminal Justice Online major is a 65-credit program comprised of core courses (45 credits) in five content areas: administration of justice, corrections, criminological theory, law adjudication, and research and theoretical methods. Criminal Justice core electives (20 credits) are drawn from multiple disciplines. Through these core courses and electives, students will be able to augment their interest in specific aspects of criminal justice.
All 65 credits required for the CJ Online major can be completed online, alongside other UW courses to help fulfill graduation requirements. To qualify for graduation with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice, a student must have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 and complete a minimum of 180 credits as oulined below:
CATEGORY |
CREDITS |
|---|---|
| College-level credits: General Education, Prerequisites, and electives |
Campus: 60 minimum Online: 90 minimum |
| Core courses | 45 |
| Core electives | 20 |
| General electives | Varies |
| Total | 180 |
Criminal Justice Online Course Requirements
General education requirements |
CJ Online Admission requirements |
Graduation requirements |
|---|---|---|
| World Language | Two years in high school of the same language or 10 credits of one language at the college level | If deficient at the time of program admission, must be completed prior to graduation (3) |
| Mathematics (1) | Three (3) years of high school math through intermediate algebra or a course in intermediate algebra at the college | |
| Quantitative/Symbolic Reasoning [QSR] | 5 credits; Will be met with a required introductory statistics course (2) | |
| Composition [C] | 5 credits of English composition (2) | 5 credits; Will be met with prerequisite course |
| Writing [W] | 10 credits of writing-intensive course work; May be met with CJ Online core courses (2) | |
| Diversity [D] | 5 credits; May be met with a required CJ Online core course (2) | |
| Visual, Literary and Performing Arts (Humanities) [VLPA] | 15 credits | |
| Individuals and Societies (Social Science) [I&S] | 15 credits | |
| The Natural World (Natural Science) [NW] | 15 credits | |
| Other requirements |
Completion of a minimum of 90 college-level quarter credits before the start of the CJ Online program |
Completion of 180 college-level quarter credits |
(1) Intermediate algebra requirement must be fulfilled to be considered for admission to the major.
(2) Minimum grade of 2.0/C required in each course.
(3) World Language courses are rarely offered online at UW Tacoma. Consult with a program advisor to discuss options to fulfill this requirement.
All Criminal Justice and Criminal Justice Online majors are required to complete each CJ core course with a 2.0 or higher grade and maintain a 2.0 GPA in all major coursework.
Note: The courses listed below are not required to be taken in numerical order. See the CJ Online Model Program of Study for course sequencing details.
T CRIM 225: Diversity and Social Justice in Criminology (5 cr)
T CRIM 361: Mental Health, Substance Use and the Criminal Justice System (5 cr)
T CRIM 362: Criminological Theory [W] (5 cr)
TSOCWF 390: Introduction to Social Welfare Research (5 cr)
Prerequisite: Introductory statistics course (2.0/C grade or better) within the past 5 years
T CRIM 370: Police and Society (5 cr)
T CRIM 371: Helping Skills in the Criminal Justice System (5 cr)
Prerequisite: T CRIM 225
T CRIM 372: Adult Corrections (5 cr)
T CRIM 395: American Criminal Courts (5 cr)
T CRIM 441: Senior Seminar: Professionalism and Ethical Issues in Criminal Justice [W] (5 cr)
Prerequisites: T CRIM 371 and TSOCWF 390
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ONLINE CORE ELECTIVES
CJ Online majors must complete 20 credits from this list of approved CJ core electives. Not all courses listed below are currently available online; some are available on campus only. Use the UW Tacoma Time Schedule Quick Search to identify available online core electives by term by selecting "Online" from the Location: drop-down menu.
Each approved course listed below is worth 5 credits unless otherwise indicated.
Milgard School of Business
- T BUS 300 Managing Organizations
School of Engineering and Technology
- T INFO 444 Mobil Digital Forensics
School of Social Work and Criminal Justice
- T CRIM 155 Media, Crime and Justice
- T CRIM 156 Criminal Justice and the War on Drugs
- T CRIM 157 Miscarriages of Justice (5)
- T CRIM 158 Hate Crimes and Organized Hate in America (5)
- T CRIM 222 United States Federal Law Enforcement
- T CRIM 271 Introduction to the Sociology of Deviance and Social Control
- T CRIM 272 Restorative Justice
- T CRIM 275 White Collar Crime
- T CRIM 352 Women in the Criminal Justice System
- T CRIM 360 Youth and Juvenile Justice Systems
- T CRIM 363 Criminalization of Immigration
- T CRIM 364 Criminal Justice and the LGBTQ Experience
- T CRIM 365 Facing Harm: Victim Offender Dialogue
- T CRIM 373 Criminal Evidence and Investigations
- T CRIM 374 Human Trafficking
- T CRIM 375 Men, Masculinities and Criminal Justice
- T CRIM 409 Advanced Readings in Criminal Justice (1-5* cr)
- T CRIM 427 Disproportionality Across Systems
- T CRIM 428 Policy and Practice with Sexual Offenders
- T CRIM 430 Children of Incarcerated Parents
- T CRIM 433 Crisis and Trauma Interventions with Crime Victims
- T CRIM 434 Criminal Homicide
- T CRIM 435 Terrorism and Criminal Justice Systems
- T CRIM 440 Fundamentals of Criminal Law
- T CRIM 450 Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
- T CRIM 490 Independent Research in Criminal Justice (1-3* cr)
- T CRIM 498 Criminal Justice Internship
*CJ majors may earn a maximum of five (5) credits from T CRIM 409 and/or T CRIM 490 as Core Elective credits. Review independent study guidelines and instructions for more information.
School of Nursing and Healthcare Leadership
- T HLTH 425 Violence in Intimate Partner Relationships
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences
- T LAW 320 American Constitutional Law: Institutional Powers and Constraints
- T LAW 348 Gender and Law
- T LAW 363 Law and Society
- T LAW 452 Minorities and the Law
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences
- T PHIL 200 Introduction to the Philosophy of Human Rights
- T PHIL 361 Ethics in Society
- T PHIL 453 Political Theory of Human Rights
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences
- No available courses at this time
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences
- TPSYCH 210 Abnormal Psychology
- TPSYCH 250 Human Cognition
- TPSYCH 401 Family Violence
- TPSYCH 406 Chemical Dependency
- TPSYCH 421 Social Psychology, Law and Society
- TPSYCH 422 Psychology and the Legal System
- TPSYCH 431 Sexual Deviance
- TPSYCH 432 Sex Crimes and Sexual Violence
School of Social Work and Criminal Justice
- TSOCWF 150 Suicide: Individual and Community Responses (2 cr)
- TSOCWF 351 Applied Statistics for Social and Human Services*
- TSOCWF 353 Mental Illness and Recovery
- TSOCWF 354 Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
- TSOCWF 420 Interpersonal Violence and Society
- TSOCWF 421 Cross-Cultural Grieving
*Satisfies the statistics prerequisite to T SOCWF 390 Introduction to Social Welfare Research
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences
- T SOC 265 Race and Ethnicity in the United States
- T SOC 335 Social Class and Inequality
- T SOC 437 Immigration Today
School of Urban Studies
- T URB 312 Race and Poverty in Urban America
GENERAL ELECTIVES
The course requirements for a degree will not always total the 180 credits needed to graduate. The additional credits needed to complete 180 college-level quarter credits are called "general electives." Students may choose from a variety of disciplines outside their major to fulfill general electives.
Please note: Students students who have not met the minimum of at least 15 credits of Visual, Literary and Performing Arts [VLPA], 15 credits of Natural World [NW] and 15 credits of Individuals and Society [I&S] within their lower-division course work must meet with the program advisor regarding selection of appropriate courses within an elective category to complete these Areas of Knowledge (AofK) requirements.
CJ Online Model Program of Study
To qualify for graduation with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice, students must complete a minimum of 180 quarter credits. Below is the sequenced curriculum plan based on entry to the CJ Online major with at least 90 college-level quarter credits already completed.
Program Petition for Course Substitution
Current social welfare majors, criminal justice majors or students who have declared the minor in criminal justice are eligible to submit course substitution petitions for review. You must supply documentation as outlined on the Program Petition for Course Substitution along with the signed form. Please allow a minimum of 7 -10 days for review. Decision notifications will be sent to your UW email address. Only college-level transferable courses are eligible for course substitutions (vocational-technical course work is not eligible). All CJ core or core elective course substitutions must be approved by petition after CJ admission. A maximum of 10 transfer equivalent credits are allowed towards the 65 credit major.
