2015-2016

Applied Science - Criminal Justice, Bachelor of Applied Science

Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

If you have completed or will complete an associate degree from a community college, you may pursue this degree.

Our goal in offering the B.A.S. degree is to provide you with a general knowledge of management, organizational, and policy issues and to advance your communication, computer, and quantitative skills. This degree also offers you the opportunity to complete a specialization that will broaden your career horizons, promote life-long learning, and enrich your life. Northern Arizona University offers this degree at selected campuses throughout Arizona.

This plan will not be available to new students after Summer 2016

  • To receive a bachelor's degree at Northern Arizona University, you must complete at least 120 units of credit that minimally includes a major, the liberal studies requirements, and university requirements as listed below.

    • All of Northern Arizona University's diversity, liberal studies, junior-level writing, and capstone requirements.
    • All requirements for your specific academic plan(s).
    • At least 30 units of upper-division courses, which may include transfer work.
    • At least 30 units of coursework taken through Northern Arizona University, of which at least 18 must be upper-division courses (300-level or above). This requirement is not met by credit-by-exam, retro-credits, transfer coursework, etc.
    • A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0 on all work attempted at Northern Arizona University.

    The full policy can be viewed here.

In addition to University Requirements:

  • 64 units in an associate's degree transfer block. (If you have been awarded an A.A.S. degree from an Arizona community college, NAU will accept up to 75 transfer units.
  • 18 units of B.A.S. requirements
  • 21 units of Criminal Justice Specialization Requirements

  • Up to 9 units of specialization prefix courses may be used to satisfy Liberal Studies requirements; these same courses may also be used to satisfy specialization requirements.

  • Elective courses, if needed, to reach an overall total of at least 120 units.

Students may be able to use some courses to meet more than one requirement. Contact your advisor for details.

Minimum Units for Completion 120
Highest Mathematics Required MAT 114
Additional Admission Requirements Required
Some online/blended coursework Required
Progression Plan Link Not Available

Additional Admission Requirements
  • Individual program admission requirements over and above admission to NAU are required.

  • To be admitted into a Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) plan, you must have an associate degree, either completed or in progress, at a regionally accredited institution, and the associate degree must be completed prior to the awarding of the BAS degree.

    • Appropriate associate's degree in criminal justice, administration of justice, administration of justice studies, law enforcement or a related degree approved by the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. See your advisor for other qualifying associate degrees.
Liberal Studies Requirement
    • Please note that you may use the same course to satisfy both a liberal studies and a BAS Requirement.
    • Up to 9 units of major prefix courses may be used to satisfy Liberal Studies requirements; these same courses may also be used to satisfy major requirements.
    • Students with a completed AGEC from Arizona Community Colleges will have met the 35 units of liberal studies requirements.
    • Students transferring into this program from California may meet NAU's liberal studies requirements by completing an IGETC at a California Community College. Please contact an advisor for more information.
Associate Degree Transfer Block
    • 64 units in an associate's degree transfer block (If you have been awarded an AAS degree from an Arizona Community College, NAU will accept up to 75 transfer units.)
  • To qualify for a specialization in criminal justice, your transferred block must include 9 units of courses deemed equivalent to:  

    Please note that only those courses deemed equivalent by either an established articulation agreement approved by Northern Arizona University’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice or by a memorandum of understanding with the Criminal Justice Department qualify. You cannot use credit assigned for experience or assessed learning (such as CLEP credits) to meet this requirement. If you don’t have credit for these courses, you can take them after entering the B.A.S. plan, however, they must be completed as part of your transfer block before your degree can be awarded.
Major Requirements
  • B.A.S. Requirements (18 units)
    This coursework is designed to help you acquire a general knowledge of management, organizational, and policy issues while advancing your professional communication, computer, and quantitative skills. Some departments may require that you take specific courses from the B.A.S. Requirements or may place other restrictions on the courses that the department requires. Please see departmental requirements for specific information. Other courses may be used to fulfill the B.A.S. Elective requirements. Please Note: At least 15 units in the core must be upper-division (300-400 level) courses.

General Electives
  • Additional coursework is required if, after you have met the previously described requirements, you have not yet completed a total of 120 units of credit.

    You may take these remaining courses from any of the academic areas, using these courses to pursue your specific interests and goals. You may also use prerequisites or transfer credits as electives if they weren't used to meet major, minor, or liberal studies requirements.

    We encourage you to consult with your advisor to select the courses that will be most advantageous to you.

Additional Information
  • Be aware that some courses may have prerequisites that you must also successfully complete. For prerequisite information, click on the course or see your advisor.