Yes, our program is offered 100% online and 100% on campus. Our online program is asynchronous with no required class meeting times offering you more flexibility. Most of our faculty do post engaging recorded lectures on the weekly material and are readily available to online students to answer questions and to provide help with homework assignments. Online students will also have the opportunity to interact with other students through discussion postings.

An education from BSU is affordable. BSU offers in-state tuition rates for all qualified applicants, not just Minnesota residents. To learn more about the cost of tuition, please visit undergraduate admissions.

Yes, absolutely. In fact, we strongly encourage you to do so. The criminal justice department chair will work with you to schedule either a telephone or zoom meeting with a faculty member. She can be reached at Amber.Laffin@bemdijistate.edu or 218-755-3767. Prospective students and family members are welcome to visit us on campus as well. To schedule a campus tour, please visit Admissions.

Our student to faculty ratio is 17:1.

All students will receive an academic advisor. Together, you will have an “advising partnership.” Your advisor’s role will be to guide and counsel you throughout your academic career at BSU. Your academic advisor is here to assist you with the selection of courses for the upcoming semester, problems that may be impacting your academic performance, credit load, repeating courses, decision to add or drop courses, academic progress, selection or change of major/minor, plans for degree completion and internship and career considerations.

Some common minors criminal justice students pursue include psychology, addictions, communication studies, sociology, fraud examination, wildlife biology or sustainability studies. Please work with your academic advisor in selecting a minor that will be the best fit for you based on your interest and career goals.

The Criminal Justice bachelor’s degree is 48 credits. Students attending full time can complete the criminal justice degree in two years or less.  The Minnesota Peace Officer Certificate is 24 credits and can be completed in one year.

The weekly time expectations are 3 hours/credit/week for 15 weeks.

Our criminal justice program has program-specific transfer agreements with our community college partners. We currently have articulation agreements with Central Lakes College (Brainerd) and Minnesota North College (Hibbing and Vermillion campuses). Our department is in the process of updating formal agreements with other colleges. If we do not have a current, formal agreement between the program you are attending currently, it is very likely that your credits will still transfer meaningfully to BSU.