Criminal Justice and Criminology

The Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology is a national leader in criminal justice and criminology research and education. The Department and SHSU are committed to promoting a campus culture that embraces diversity and inclusion.

Our Department offers several undergraduate and graduate degree programs and each one helps prepare students for the jobs they will begin immediately after graduation and for long-term success. Students gain valuable experiences outside of the classroom through our many student organizations, our exceptional internship opportunities, and opportunities to collaborate with faculty. Our on-line graduate degree programs are rigorous and serve a diverse audience of current and future criminal justice practitioners. In 2020, U.S. News and World Report ranked our on-line graduate degree programs #2 in the United States.

The Department is pleased to announce a new minor in Criminal Justice Equity and Inclusion. Students can declare this new minor beginning in the fall 2020 semester. Students should speak with their advisors about declaring this new minor.

Come study and collaborate with one of the leading groups of scholars in the United States. Our faculty have teaching and research expertise in victimology, criminology, policing, corrections, and legal issues.

Sam Houston State University is committed to promoting a campus culture that embraces diversity and inclusion. This is accomplished through proactive assessment of policies and operational strategies, as well as program implementation that strives to remove institutional barriers to recruit and retain a diverse university community with intersectional perspectives. Furthermore, the University acknowledges and values our responsibility to cultivate an equitable and inclusive environment where students, faculty, staff, and community recognize the benefits of collaboration and mutual respect through diverse identities and experiences.

WPD Chief Victorian: Police outreach aided 2023 drop in violent crime

Waco police say violent crime, as well as crime in general, decreased in 2023 as part of an overall downturn in crime throughout Texas and the nation.

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Criminal Justice Online Master's Program Ranked No. 2 Nationally

The U.S. News & World Report has ranked Sam Houston State University's Criminal Justice Department #2 for best online master's program in the United States.

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Doctoral Program Graduate Placements

Our department’s rich history of graduate and undergraduate students being placed at agencies and institutions across the world is what makes us a leader in criminal justice and criminology education.

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Ph.D. Student Studying the Effects of Extreme Temperatures in Prisons

Jazmin Palacios is a first year Ph.D. student in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Sam Houston State University’s College of Criminal Justice, studying the effects of temperature in prisons by combining her concerns about climate change and her interests in criminal justice.

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CJ Faculty Funded as Research Partners with Project Safe Neighborhoods

Dr. Yan and Dr. Ingram have been funded almost $450,000 to serve as research partners on the Southern District of Texas’ Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) for a second year.

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Minor in Criminal Justice Equity and Inclusion

SHSU offers a minor in Criminal Justice Equity and Inclusion. While the current economic crisis and past protests have sparked the topic of social change and criminal justice reform across the nation, SHSU had been planning this offering for years, as research on this minor proposal began in 2018.

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