Criminal Justice Major

The criminal justice curriculum at PLU is cumulative, such that the skills developed in lower-division courses set the groundwork for the skills to be developed in upper-division classes. We advise students to select their courses with this curricular philosophy in mind. Students are required to complete 40 credit hours in the major.

40 semester hours, including:

  • SOCI 101: Introduction to Sociology
  • CRIM 102: Introduction to Criminal Justice
  • SOCI 301: Quantitative Research Methods
  • SOCI 302: Qualitative Research Methods
  • CRIM 413: Criminological Theory
  • SOCI 499: Capstone
  • 4 semester hours of SOCI Inequalities elective coursework. Choose from SOCI 210 (Gender and Society), 240 (Social Problems), 309 (Social Stratification), or 332 (Race and Racism).
  • 12 semester hours of Criminal Justice elective coursework. Choose from CRIM 226 (Delinquency and Juvenile Justice), 287 (ST in Criminal Justice), 387 (ST in Criminal Justice), 495 (Internship); SOCI 336 (Deviance), 393 (Gender & Violence), 495 (Internship); PHIL 125 (Ethics and the Good Life), PHIL 128 (Politics and the Good Society), PHIL 227 (Philosophy and Race), or PHIL 229 (Human Rights). Students may only take 4 semester hours of PHIL courses for the Criminal Justice major.

Majors and minors are expected to maintain a minimum grade of C- in criminal justice and sociology classes.

Updated 8/20/2025

Declare your Major

If you would like to declare your major in criminal justice schedule a meeting with the department chair, Kate Luther lutherke@plu.edu.

Due to shared core curriculum, students may not double major in criminal justice and sociology. Students may major in criminal justice and minor in sociology.