Study law enforcement administration, history, and practice alongside criminal investigation and psychology, the foundation for careers as a law enforcement officer, victim advocate, or community justice caseworker.
Bachelor of Arts
Criminal Justice and Restorative Justice
Major
Justice That Repairs, Not Just Punishes
You came here to change how justice works, not only to study it.
Goshen College’s Criminal and Restorative Justice major is a four-year bachelors degree that examines crime, harm, and injustice through a restorative lens, working toward healing, accountability, and systemic change rather than punishment alone.
Plan for hands-on commitment from the start. An internship is required for the major, and during May term you can study inside a local jail alongside incarcerated students through the Inside-Out program. Both put you in the systems you’re learning to change, early and in person.
The Paths through the Justice System
A Small College That Sends You Out
You start working in the community in your second semester through Community Engaged Learning with organizations like Elkhart Jail Ministries and Elkhart County Drug Court. From there, internships connect you to partners such as the Center for Community Justice in Elkhart and Indiana Legal Services, often built around the questions you most want to pursue.
You also go global. Every Goshen student can spend several weeks or more off campus through the Study-Service Term, living with a host family, learning a language and culture, and taking on a major service project, frequently tied to their field. It’s the clearest proof that this is a small college built to push you outward, not inward.
What You’ll Study
You’ll build a working knowledge of law enforcement administration, history, and practice, grounded in social theories of criminal psychology, criminal investigation, and society. Restorative and transformative approaches to justice run through the whole program, with sustained attention to marginalized communities and the societal factors a conventional system tends to neglect.
Because the program reads criminal justice through a restorative lens, you graduate fluent in the newer theories and practices reshaping the field, including how restorative practices work in schools, workplaces, and at a societal level. View the complete program requirements in our catalog.
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Paying for Goshen
Scholarships make up a large share of Goshen financial-aid packages, which average almost $26,000 per student (not including work-study or loans). That aid is meant to make a rigorous, hands-on justice education reachable, not aspirational. Reaching out to the financial aid office is the best way to take your first step into a affordable higher education. To see your own price after aid, run the net price calculator and talk with a real person in the financial aid office.
Common Questions About Criminal Justice and Restorative Justice Major
A lot, and early. You begin Community Engaged Learning in your second semester with partners like Elkhart Jail Ministries and Elkhart County Drug Court, complete a required internship with organizations such as the Center for Community Justice and Indiana Legal Services, and can study inside a local jail through the May-term Inside-Out program.
Yes. Many CJRJ graduates continue to law school or to graduate study in criminal justice, social work, or conflict transformation. The major builds the writing, analysis, and ethical reasoning graduate and professional programs look for, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics rates the field’s outlook as strong.
Scholarships are a large part of Goshen aid packages, which average almost $26,000 per student, not counting work-study or loans. Visit the financial aid page for available scholarships and the steps to apply, and talk with an admissions counselor about a package built for your situation.
Start your application at the Goshen College apply page, or request information first if you’d like to talk through fit before committing. You can also schedule a visit to sit in on a class and meet faculty. There’s no separate application to declare the CJRJ major beyond admission to Goshen.
Ready to get started?
Regina Shands Stoltzfus
Professor of Peace
Justice
and Conflict StudiesRob Brenneman
Professor of Criminal Justice and Sociology
