Earning the Bachelor of Criminal Justice Degree Online
The Department of Criminal Justice at New Mexico State University provides a limited online opportunity for students to earn the Bachelor of Criminal Justice degree (BCJ). The online opportunity is primarily intended to serve students unable to relocate to Las Cruces or who are in professions preventing them from completing the traditional campus-based BCJ program. Students utilizing the online opportunity must complete all University and College of Arts and Sciences General Education Requirements. These requirements may be viewed in the NMSU Undergraduate Catalog.
Students must also complete all course requirements specific to the BCJ. These requirements are listed below and in the NMSU Undergraduate Catalog.
Bachelor of Criminal Justice Curriculum
Required Courses
Lower Division - Must be Completed Prior to Taking Upper Division Courses
- CJ 101 Introduction to Criminal Justice - prerequisite for all other CJ courses
- CJ 205 Criminal Law I
- CJ 210 American Law Enforcement Systems
- CJ 230 Introduction to Corrections
- CJ 250 Courts and the Criminal Justice System
Upper Division
- CJ 300 Introduction to Criminal Justice Research (May substitute SOC 352, GOV 300, PSY 310, or SWK 467)
- CJ 301 Advanced Research Methods (May substitute any Introductory Statistics course)
- CJ 449 Senior Seminar - To be completed during the Senior year (90 or more earned credit hours)
Electives
Must complete 4 (12 credits) upper division elective courses (courses numbered 300 or higher) in addition to those listed above. CJ 393 Internship cannot be used to satisfy this requirement but may be used to satisfy the University requirement of 48 upper division credit hours.
Complete s second language through the 212 (213) level; or MATH 192.
Second language can be waived with 3 credits in a single language from high school.
Complete statewide common core courses.
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Additional BCJ Online Information
The Department of Criminal Justice and New Mexico State University do not offer the entire undergraduate curriculum online at this time. Enough upper division courses are offered such that students may complete the BCJ at a distance by using the WebCT platform.
Each semester, a small number of upper division Criminal Justice courses are offered online. At present, these courses are available on a priority basis only to students at New Mexico State University - Carlsbad and the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, New Mexico until the last day of courses in the prior semester. After that date, all online upper division Criminal Justice courses are open to all students, including those in residence at the main campus in Las Cruces, until the courses are full. Each course has a maximum capacity of 25 students.
Courses offered each semester may be found by visiting this link.
Selecting the link for the appropriate semester and then selecting the link for "Distance Education."
The requirements for any student registering for these courses are:
- Admission as a degree seeking undergraduate student at the Main Campus of New Mexico State University in Las Cruces;
- Formal designation with the College of Arts and Sciences as a degree seeking Bachelor of Criminal Justice student.
For additional course registration information please contact the individual responsible at your institution for coordinating with the NMSU distance education program or contact the NMSU College of Extended Learning.