Justice studies department and degree programs

Degrees and credentials from the Justice Studies department

The NAU–Yuma Justice Studies department offers options to earn the degree or credential best suited to you. Whatever your interests or career path, these programs combine coursework in intelligence and criminology fields, unique pathways to graduation, and more. In addition to our Bachelor’s in Justice Studies and 90–30 transfer degree, we also offer a Bachelor of Applied Science in Justice Studies and a minor in Justice Studies.

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Bachelor’s degree in Justice Studies

Our Justice Studies bachelor’s degree offers two emphasis options.

Our Justice Administration emphasis is designed to prepare you as a criminal justice practitioner to work in law enforcement, courts, and corrections. You’ll apply theory to practice, and we are committed to preparing you for work in the “real” criminal justice world.

Our Intelligence Studies emphasis is designed to provide you with the most relevant and responsive intelligence studies coursework possible—tailoring your degree to your goals by selecting courses exploring terrorist ideologies in social media, intelligence-led policing, risks in intelligence, and more.

Bachelor’s degree details

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90–30 Justice Studies transfer bachelor’s degree

NAU–Yuma’s 90–30 transfer degrees are designed to help you combine affordability with the highest quality education, allowing you to transfer up to 90 credits from a community college toward your NAU degree. Our Interdisciplinary Studies, Justice Studies 90–30 bachelor’s degree is no exception.

With emphasis areas in Intelligence Studies and Criminal Justice Administration, this program supports a similar mission and vision as our Justice Studies bachelor’s degree while allowing you to maximize transfer credits.

Transfer degree details

Why join the Justice Studies department as an NAU–Yuma student?

The Justice Studies department consists of a team of Northern Arizona University full-time and part-time faculty, academic advisors, and Statewide Campus Outreach and Transition Coordinators dedicated to your academic and professional success. Collaborating across various locations in Arizona, our team is focused on providing a rigorous academic program designed to help you gain critical skills necessary to become an effective leader in the criminal justice field.

Our vision, mission, and student learning goals focus on the success of every single student. We offer in-person and online classes to give you flexibility in arranging your work and course schedules, and offer a focused program to help you complete your degree in a timely and cost-effective manner. Our goal is to keep the size of all classes small to help you engage with faculty members and interact with classmates in a productive learning environment.

Take the next steps in your career

The bachelor’s degree in Justice Studies, with an emphasis in Justice Administration or Intelligence Studies, provides you with the education and skills necessary to enter into, or seek promotion within, the criminal justice system in the areas of justice administration or intelligence studies. As a justice studies program, we assume a philosophical approach to the ethical application of justice. As such, you’ll be challenged to use ethical principles to address current issues facing the community criminal justice and intelligence fields.

All our programs are uniquely positioned to help you prepare to move forward in any justice career:

Complete your degree quickly—courses are offered year-round in an online, accelerated, eight-week format. Some courses are also offered in a blended format at select community college campuses.
Learn from the experts—all instructors have practitioner experience and advanced degrees.
Instructors also serve as student mentors, assisting with job related questions.
Internship opportunities are available.

Mission, vision, and values of the Justice Studies department

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Mission statement

The mission of NAU–Yuma’s Justice Studies department is to prepare students to become effective and ethical leaders in the criminal justice field through the development of managerial, problem solving, and leadership skills. Our faculty is committed to every student’s success. By promoting rigorous academic standards and high expectations for student achievement, our programs emphasize experiential learning, linking theory to specific problems relevant to law enforcement, the courts, and corrections.

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Vision statement

NAU–Yuma’s Justice Studies department represents an innovative statewide model delivering in-person and online courses. Our programs are designed to meet the managerial demands of local, state, and federal government agencies, and aim to develop the core skills criminal justice practitioners need to succeed in the complex and rapidly changing environments of the 21st century.

Values

Our department values active learning and encourages its diverse faculty and students to adopt best practices that create an effective and engaging learning community in the traditional or online classroom.

Justice Studies learning objectives

Upon completion of a program offered by NAU–Yuma’s Justice Studies department students will be able to:

Demonstrate their managerial decision-making, leadership, problem solving, skills in various settings in the criminal justice field.
Contribute to the effective managerial performance of their organization.
Recognize the value and importance of ethics in the criminal justice field.
Be familiar with professional development and training needs in the criminal justice field.
Identify the main issues and conditions affecting the criminal justice field.
Define the roles and skills necessary to manage change in organizations in the criminal justice field.
Demonstrate a commitment to excellence in criminal justice.

Justice Studies department at NAU–Yuma