Top Florida Criminal Justice Universities

University of North Florida

• The University of North Florida's Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice offers a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. There are no special requirements for entry into the program, although an introductory statistics class is a prerequisite for many classes in the major. Beyond required classes in areas such as corrections and the court system, students can take electives ranging from Women and Crime to Hate Crimes. All students are required to complete a minor in a field other than criminal justice, take two semesters of a foreign language, and spend at least 140 hours at an approved internship. Past internship sites have included the FBI, Florida Department of Children and Families, and the office of the mayor of Jacksonville. Outstanding students with a GPA of 3.67 or higher may also have the opportunity to complete an honors research project with the assistance of a faculty mentor.

  University of North Florida

  1 UNF Drive

  Jacksonville, FL 32224

  904-620-1000

  unf.edu/coas/ccj/index.html

University of Florida

• The University of Florida offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in Criminology and Law. Undergraduate students must complete 60 credits, including introductory classes in statistics and criminal justice, with at least a 2.8 GPA in order to be admitted to the major at the beginning of their junior year. All majors must complete 13 credits of required criminal justice classes, a three credit course in law, and 18 credits of criminal justice electives. Students are also encouraged to take elective courses in related departments such as sociology, political science, and psychology. At the graduate level, Florida offers master's and doctoral degrees in the field. One unique option available to graduate students is the dual degree program in which students can earn a law degree at the same time that they earn a master's in criminology. With careful planning, students can earn both degrees in only four years of full-time study.

  University of Florida

  3219 Turlington Hall

  Gainesville, FL 32611

  352-392-0265

  soccrim.clas.ufl.edu/criminology/index.html

University of Tampa

• The Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Tampa offers a bachelor's degree in criminology. Students take core courses in criminal justice theory and research methods, as well as courses in the areas of law, justice organizations, and behavioral theory. Beyond this, students can select from a range of electives. Notable classes include Trial Advocacy, where students prepare a case and represent a fictional client in a competition against teams from other schools; and Victimology, where students present an anti-violence program to youth in a local juvenile detention center. Students also have the opportunity to go on faculty-led study abroad trips to places like Mexico and the Czech Republic to study the criminal justice system of another country. For a faculty-selected group of outstanding students, the Criminology Scholars program hosts seminar classes where students can learn from and network with local professionals in the field.

  University of Tampa

  401 W. Kennedy Blvd.

  Tampa, FL 33606

  813-253-3333

  ut.edu/criminology/