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The Criminal Justice Certificate attracts students planning or continuing careers in the criminal justice system—from law enforcement to probation, courts, or corrections. Our graduates and certificate holders have served the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Federal government, and other agencies as police officers, probation or parole officers, special agents, paralegals, criminal defense lawyers, and district attorneys.
Application:

Applications are available online, via email (onlinecj@soc.umass.edu), calling (413) 545-4059, or by stopping by Thompson Hall rm 712. Please note for University of Massachusetts matriculated, degree-seeking students, applications are only accepted beginning the day after the end of the current semester’s add/drop deadline through the 6th Friday after the add/drop deadline. Degree-seeking University of Massachusetts students admitted into the program should expect to possibly take 3 or more of the required courses on-line through CPE: http://www.umassulearn.net.

Certificate students not matriculated at the University of Massachusetts normally take all of their courses online through CPE. Upon completion students must fill out a Completion Form and submit an unofficial transcription.

Criminal Justice certificate courses:

Recommended:
_____     Sociol 103, Social Problems

Required:
_____     Sociol 241, Criminology
 

_____     Sociol 342, Deviance and Social Order  OR   Sociol 323, Sociology of Law
 
_____     Three upper-level (200+) Sociology / CJ courses, one of which may be taken in a department other than Sociology and approved on a case-by-case basis by the chief undergraduate advisor. Courses offered vary by semester; most are offered only online.

Examples include:
Sociol 242, Drugs & Society
Sociol 343, Hate Crime
Sociol 344, Gender Crime
Sociol 345, Juvenile Delinquency
Sociol 346, Communities Crime
Sociol 347, Corporate Crime
Sociol 391M, Serial Mass Murder
Sociol 392J, Race & Policing
Sociol 394F, Crime & Forensics
Sociol 394S, White Collar Crime
Sociol 395A, Probation & Parole
Sociol 397D, Delinquency & Juvenile Justice
Sociol 497C, Survey of Criminal Justice Fields

One of the courses below can be substituted for a Sociology / CJ course:
Legal 250, Intro to Legal Studies
Legal 333, Law & Culture in America
Polsci 163, Intro to Civil Liberties
Polsci 360, Constitutional Law
Psych 355, Adolescent Psychology
Psych 380, Abnormal Psychology
Cmpsci 391LI, Computer Crime Law