The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors has approved a new Bachelor of Arts in criminology and criminal justice degree program to be offered by Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania beginning this fall.

The new program will prepare graduates for employment as corrections officers as well as for careers in the fields of law enforcement, juvenile probation, drug enforcement and customs. The University will establish professional partnerships with regional agencies to provide students with real-life learning opportunities while they work toward their degree.

Courses will be offered both through regular classroom instruction and distance education, making the degree available to both traditional and non-traditional students. Traditional students will be encouraged to participate in an internship at some point during their course of study.

The program will include an optional concentration in community corrections, developed in response to recent legislation that allows for the diversion of non-violent offenders into alternative sentencing programs in the community.

The curriculum was designed to meet the certification criteria of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and the University will seek program accreditation.

The University has developed articulation agreements with several community colleges in the region to allow students with associate degrees in criminal justice to transfer into the new bachelor’s degree program.

For more information about the program, please contact Slippery Rock University.

With more than 107,000 students, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. The 14 PASSHE universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. More than 405,000 PASSHE alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.

The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock, and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. PASSHE also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Freeport, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg.