Secure Your Future with a Degree in Criminal Justice

What is Criminal Justice?

From street criminals who commit robberies, assaults, and larcenies, to families struggling to break the cycle of domestic violence, to white collar felons engaged in more sophisticated offenses such as embezzlement and fraud, today's complex criminal justice professionals require sophisticated analytical skills for the study of crime and delinquency.

Why Criminal Justice at CSUB?

Outstanding Faculty

At CSU Bakersfield, students in Criminal Justice get to work closely with highly qualified Ph.D professors with diverse specialty areas and backgrounds. CSUB also welcomes distinguished adjunct faculty, including local law enforcement officials, attorneys, and state and county judges.

Academic Excellence

California State University, Bakersfield Criminal Justice Department offers coursework for individuals who are interested in understanding the causes, responses, and impact of crime on communities. Students learn about the criminal justice system’s place in society, its development through time, and how society’s views towards crime and punishment have shaped the system’s actions, values, philosophies, and resources.

The Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Criminal Justice is designed to provide the student with familiarity in the major components of the U.S. criminal justice system, including law enforcement, prosecution, courts, and corrections. Criminal Justice majors leave CSUB grounded in the intricacies of the U.S. justice system network, the theories underlying criminal behavior, and the research methodologies required to understand complex criminal justice issues. CSUB also offers a minor in Criminal Justice.

Additionally, majors and non-majors have the opportunity to take elective courses on ethics, drugs, prisoners’ and victims’ rights, white collar crime, and terrorism, as well as classes addressing race gender, crime, and justice.

Internship Opportunities

In addition to providing an outstanding classroom experience, CSUB's Criminal Justice Department also offers students internships with the Bakersfield Police Department, Kern County Sheriff's Office, Kern County Probation, District Attorney's Office, Child Protective Services, California Department of Rehabilitation, Alliance Against Family Violence, and several private law firms. Declared majors with junior status and a minimum of 2.5 GPA are eligible.

Please click on the links at left for more information about the Criminal Justice Department at CSUB or call (661) 654-2433.