Criminal Justice

• A multitude of jobs await our graduates. Thousands of different types of investigative, policing, counseling, corporate, legal-related, and correctional jobs attract students to major in criminal justice.
• The program takes students on a scholarly adventure to explore subjects such as the explanation of human behavior, the nature of crime, juvenile delinquency, social deviance, the behavioral and psychology profiling of violent criminals, crime scene investigation, drug abuse, law, trials and the courtroom process, punishment, the treatment and rehabilitation of criminals, terrorism, the protection of society and homeland security.
• Students are given exclusive access to the Guilford County Court System, with opportunities to attend both felony and misdemeanor trials and observe and analyze cases.
• All criminal justice courses combine lively classroom instruction with experiential instruction on the practical, hands-on aspect of the justice field, via simulations, role playing, mock scenes and other field related exercises.
• The Citizen Police Academy Course, a cooperative venture with the High Point Police Department, is an experiential course that gives students a taste of what it is like for a police recruit to go through a police academy.
• Collaborative research, opportunities for students to learn the mechanics of doing justice research under the direction of a criminal justice faculty member.
• On the HPU Intercollegiate Mock Trial Competition Team, students are put in a court environment to role play realistic cases and trials under faculty direction.

How will this minor help you? The minor for Forensic Studies at High Point University provides two concentrations for students. One of those options is the Natural Sciences Track. Impress future employers with an interdisciplinary framework incorporating knowledge of ethics, methods of identification using bone samples, and an evolutionary context of anatomical structures. The other option is the Social Sciences Track. Show your value to your prospective employers by developing a rich understanding of the intersections of the social, biological, and political.

For more information click below:

Basic Information Interdisciplinary Minor Information

The Criminal Justice Learning Lab is a 9,000 square foot experiential learning facility used in justice related courses including Police Operations and Crime Scene Investigation. The Crime Lab is utilized to create mock crime scenarios for students to receive special investigative instruction and experience for processing a homicide scene as detectives, warrant-serving mock “busts” and “raids,” building searches for hidden and armed suspects, instruction on arrest procedures, and practicing officer safety, handcuffing and more. This Evidence Processing Room serves as an opportunity for students to: analyze physical evidence from a crime scene, such as fingerprints, footwear impression evidence, dust prints and blood splatter; learn investigational skills; interview witnesses, victims and suspects; learn basic law enforcement skills, like executing raids, approaching dangerous offenders, responding to emergency police calls; and appropriate use of force. The Lab includes a completely functional courtroom for use in teaching students about aspects of criminal trials, legal issues, and for students to play parts in mock trials.