Criminal Justice
Available as a major
As a criminal justice major at Roanoke, you'll investigate the causes and impact of crime, as well as methods of controlling criminal behavior.
Our approach offers you both a deep exploration of criminal justice issues and practices, as well as exceptional communication and problem-solving skills. The major approaches criminality through political, sociological, scientific and psychological perspectives.

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Foundations of Justice is a one-week summer experience designed to introduce high school students to the foundations, practice, and public impact of the legal profession.
- Date:
- July 14 - 18, 2025
- Time:
- 8:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.
- Location:
Fintel Library - Roanoke College
As a criminal justice major at Roanoke, you'll investigate the causes and impact of crime, as well as methods of controlling criminal behavior.
Our approach offers you both a deep exploration of criminal justice issues and practices, as well as exceptional communication and problem-solving skills. The major approaches criminality through political, sociological, scientific and psychological perspectives.
Roanoke offers students internship opportunities with regional police departments, probation offices, attorney's offices and immigration centers. Our Washington Semester gives you the chance to complete federal internships with agencies, such as the U.S. Marshals Service, the Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. You'll have opportunities to engage with speakers who come to campus through the Fowler and Turk lecture series. Past guests include Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking; Piper Kerman, author of Orange is the New Black; Amanda Knox, a college student wrongfully convicted of murder while studying abroad in Italy; and Monica Lewinsky, former White House intern.
Students can also participate in the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, a unique opportunity in which traditional college students (“outsiders”) study alongside incarcerated individuals (“insiders”) for a semester. The course meets weekly, and aims to “foster social change through transformative education.” Traditional college students are exposed to the realities of incarceration, while at the same time, inmates engage in pro-social interactions with college students and gain access to academic content.
Criminal justice majors at Roanoke go on to careers in law enforcement, criminology, government, executive management, protective services, law and social work. Students are also well prepared to enter graduate programs in criminal justice and related fields, and to enter law school.
We offer a major in Criminal Justice.