Degrees & Majors

The Ph.D. in Criminal Justice and Criminology program is designed to train researchers and teacher-scholars in criminal justice and criminology. The program provides intensive one-on-one mentorship, a flexible curriculum, and core teaching and research skills that enable graduates to excel in university settings as well as research think tanks. Current and former doctoral students are involved in presenting their research at regional and national conferences. Faculty members in the department have involved doctoral students in their research projects, resulting in numerous publications with students. In addition, graduate students help plan and attend research colloquia and participate in student governance.

Designed by award winning faculty in criminal justice and criminology research, the Georgia State Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice degree will help you advance in your career. The program offers two academic concentrations that can be earned on-campus or online: Crime and Justice or Legal Studies. The Crime and Justice concentration provides a blend of traditional criminal justice curriculum and forward thinking emphasis on digital criminology, while the Legal Studies concentration is designed for criminal justice majors desiring more intensive exposure to law often in preparation for law school. Students may also elect to pursue a minor in Digital Criminology online along with the Bachelor of Science.

Why the Criminal Justice Program at Georgia State Works

• Fair and open dialogue: Our faculty have designed a program that stresses an integrated view of the criminal justice system, highlighting relationships among the many different institutions involved and the need for cooperation and humane practices across: law enforcement, the courts, corrections, and the juvenile justice system.
• Theoretical framework combined with current events: You will study how our criminal justice system was designed and examine the parts of the system, including the roles of victims and offenders. Paired with an examination of the causes and consequences of traditional and digital crime, you will receive a comprehensive criminal justice education to prepare you for a career that is relevant to the critical issues facing justice agencies of today and tomorrow.
• Your success matters: You will work with the undergraduate advisement center throughout your time at Georgia State to make sure you are enrolling in the correct courses.

Because a bachelor’s degree at Georgia State also requires general education classes, you will find yourself speaking more clearly and effectively, thinking more analytically and critically evaluating the materials you read by the time you graduate.

The Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology offers a minor in criminal justice to all undergraduate Georgia State students.  The minor is comprised of 15 credit hours and offer students the opportunity to complement their major studies with practical, career-orientated courses that will lead to additional skill sets marketable to the public or private sector. Why our program works

• Fair and open dialogue: Our faculty have designed a program that stresses an integrated view of the criminal justice system, highlighting relationships among the many different institutions involved and the need for cooperation and humane practices across law enforcement, the courts, corrections and the juvenile justice system.
• Theoretical framework combined with current events: You will study how our criminal justice system was designed and examine the parts of the system, including the roles of victims and offenders. Paired with an examination of the causes and consequences of traditional and digital crime, you will receive a comprehensive criminal justice education to prepare you for a career that is relevant to the critical issues facing justice agencies of today and tomorrow.
• Your success matters: You will work with the undergraduate advisement center throughout your time at Georgia State to make sure you are enrolling in the correct courses

The Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology emphasizes issues of crime and justice occurring in urban environments from a multicultural, interdisciplinary perspective to inform science, policy and practice. The department produces students who are critical and ethical thinkers, knowledgeable about the issues of crime and justice, and prepared for leadership positions in public and private criminal justice.

An undergraduate degree in economics prepares students with the quantitative and qualitative skills to think critically and learn how to make optimal decisions. Students will learn by doing with a curriculum taught by nationally acclaimed economists and faculty. The BA program has a qualitative focus with a foreign language requirement.

An undergraduate degree in economics prepares students with the quantitative and qualitative skills to think critically and learn how to make optimal decisions. Students will learn by doing with a curriculum taught by nationally acclaimed economists and faculty. The BS has a focus on quantitative and mathematical reasoning. This program is recommended if students are considering a graduate degree in economics or related areas in business.

With internationally renowned faculty and research centers, the doctoral program in economics takes a pioneering approach to economics that emphasizes public policy and empirical evaluation. In the innovative Ph.D. program, you’ll master advanced econometrics and experimental methods to learn how economics and policy work together in preparation for a successful career as a researcher, university instructor or both. Combining the latest economic theory, analytical skills, research methodology and empirical techniques, the rigorous curriculum will equip you to meet today’s complex challenges and educate the next generation of public economics experts. We offer six fields of specialization within economics: environmental, experimental, health, labor, public and urban. Students choose one primary and one secondary field, and many students choose research that spans more than one field. Our program has been given a STEM designation, which recognizes the rigorous instruction all students receive. It also benefits international students who can, upon graduation, apply for a STEM Optional Practical Training (OPT) visa extension that allows them to work in the United States for up to 29 months rather than one year (starting with students entering in Fall 2020).

An undergraduate degree in economics prepares students with the quantitative and qualitative skills to think critically and learn how to make optimal decisions. Students will learn by doing with a curriculum taught by nationally acclaimed economists and faculty. The BA IEML has a qualitative focus with a language component in Spanish, French, German or Chinese Culture and Society.

The Master of Interdisciplinary Studies program in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) prepares students for a range of careers in government, public service, entrepreneurship and the corporate world. Georgia State’s program helps students become familiar with, and capable of contributing to, ongoing debates about the nature of good political and economic institutions, as well as the policies and practices best suited for creating and sustaining them. Students develop the intellectual skills of the social scientist who seeks to understand how social, political and economic institutions operate and are interrelated, and the moral philosopher who seeks to critically evaluate these institutions and the social world more generally, in relation to how they ought to operate. Historically, philosophy, political science and economics were deeply connected.  The intellectual father of modern economics, Adam Smith, was a philosopher concerned with moral and political philosophy.  PPE, as a contemporary academic field of study, began at Oxford University in 1920 and has spread across the English-speaking world.