The Criminal Justice curriculum requires a core of broad-based courses which stress the systemic, philosophical nature of criminal justice. This core requirement is consistent with the general institutional goal of providing a quality undergraduate education which encourages students to develop an ability to synthesize information, to engage in scholarly inquiry and to accomplish rational problem solving. It is believed that a traditional arts and sciences education is the best preparation for the study of criminal justice as well as the best means of developing intellectual skills which students need to function in modern society.

Further, it is assumed that students must understand the philosophies and processes of criminal justice in order for them to possess broad and representative knowledge of criminal justice as an intellectual discipline. Each of the required courses is designed to present underlying and unifying philosophies of criminal justice. Elective criminal justice courses are offered in more specialized areas, e.g., Criminal Investigation, Juvenile Justice Process, and Tennessee Criminal Law. Such specialized courses are beneficial to students when taken in conjunction with the core courses and have served, in many instances, to create an interest on the part of the students in pursuing a particular area of criminal justice as a career.