Criminology and Criminal Justice majors are required to include a minor in their program. There are many excellent choices and students select a minor to develop secondary skills or knowledge they feel will be interesting and beneficial to their career goals. There are no limitations as to which area to select but students should explore interests early and consider possible prerequisites for upper division courses that may be required in the minor. Students are not limited to the following but these are common minors that are often considered.
A Foreign Language: Some agencies give preference to students who are fluent in a second language. Languages offered: Arabic, Czech, French, German, Japanese and Spanish. Beneficial in multi-lingual communities.
Business Administration: Helpful for advancing into higher level administrative or management positions.
Business and Law: Beneficial if interested in law school. (Requires junior standing and a 3.25 GPA to enroll in these classes)
Child, Youth and Family Science: Helpful to prevent, intervene and remedy interpersonal problems experienced by individuals in their family relationships. Beneficial for child protective services, juvenile services or victim services.
Communication Studies: Strong communication skills are needed in most criminal justice related positions. Also beneficial in preparing for law school.
English: Strong reading and writing skills can be of benefit in many criminal justice related positions. Particularly helpful if considering law school because of the extensive reading and writing required.
Ethnic Studies: Helpful to understand diversity and working with diverse populations. May consider Ethnic Studies or specify Asian Studies, African American Studies, Latin American Studies or Indigenous Studies.
Fisheries & Wildlife (Natural Resources): This would be helpful if interested in becoming a conservation officer/game warden.
Gerontology: With the aging population, it is helpful to have a better understanding of working with the aging population particularly when when dealing with crimes against the elderly, elderly in prisons, elder law.
Global Studies: Increases knowledge of global issues and the diversity of interactions at the global level.
Human Rights & Humanitarian Affairs: Helpful for CCJ careers that interact with the public. Develop knowledge of human rights and the political and philosophical tensions that arise between the protection of human rights and other goals, like the idea of respecting cultural diversity, maintaining a national identity, or protecting the security of citizens.
LGBTQ/Sexuality Studies: Understanding experiences of individuals concerning gender and sexuality may be helpful in many criminal justice related positions.
National Security Studies: Develop writing and critical thinking skills, negotiate multiple and competing interests, analyze global security issues, develop knowledge in international policy. Beneficial for a career with a federal agency or private industry with international relations or security requirements, e.g. Homeland Security, Intelligence Communities.
Philosophy: Helps develop analytical and critical thinking skills which are needed to reason well and make good decisions. May be beneficial if considering law school.
Political Science: An understanding of government, politics and public policy may be of benefit since a large number of criminal justice positions are in public agencies.
Psychology: Understanding behavior and behavior problems would be helpful in many criminal justice related positions or if interested in graduate education in counseling.
Public Policy Analysis: May choose to complete the Certificate which trains students to analyze public policies, negotiate multiple and competing interest and develop in-depth knowledge and application in substantive policy issues.
Sociology: Courses understanding culture, society and social problems may be of benefit.
Women & Gender Studies: Helpful to understand women’s issues in various types of positions or particularly in victim services.
Other Possibilities to Consider
ROTC: Students in any of the ROTC programs may substitute an area of study for the minor requirement with courses in Military Science, Naval Science or Aerospace.
To review other options see a complete list of available minors: UNL Undergraduate Catalog.