Department of Criminal Justice

Community College Transfer Guide

Purpose: 

The purpose of this transfer guide is to show students that their entire Associate of Art (A.A.) or Associate of Science (A.S.) degree with a major in Criminal Justice will transfer to UH/D. There is no need to leave your program before completion for fear of losing hours. All you need to do is pay attention to the materials presented below in order to transfer all of your credit hours. This process is mandated by the Texas Legislature to insure the transferability of your hours.

Which Degree Are You Pursuing?

Many students do not know into which Associate degree program they are enrolled. The college transfer degrees are the Associate of Arts (A.A.) or the Associate of Science (A.S.). Non-college transfer degrees include the Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree and certificate programs. If you don't know which one you are in, then find out. The particular program you are in can make a big difference in the transferability of your hours to a four-year school.

General Education Core: 

State law mandates that starting in the Fall Semester, 1999, students enrolled in an A.A. or A.S. Degree program and completes the General Education requirements at a Community College, UHD must accept that entire General Education Core. Additionally, students will not need to take any extra General Education Core courses at UH/D. However, it is significant that you recognize that you need to be enrolled in a college transfer degree program to qualify. These include the A.A and A.S. degrees. It is important to note that the General Education Core at the Community College will transfer in total (without losing any hours).

Students who have an associate degree when they transfer to UH/D are more likely to graduate with a bachelor's degree than those who do not complete their degree requirements. We have a very high graduation rate with Criminal Justice majors when they transfer to us with an A.A. or A.S. degree.

Those students who are enrolled in the Associate of Applied Science Degree program (A.A.S.) are not included in the mandated General Education Core transfer requirements and will have to meet the General Education requirements of the UH/D. That is because the A.A.S. is not a college transfer degree.

You are encouraged to talk to your degree program coordinator and/or your academic counselor for information on your program and its transferability to UH/D.


Field of Study (CRIMINAL JUSTICE): 

Students who wish to pursue a Baccalaureate in Criminal Justice can transfer twenty-one hours of Criminal Justice courses into the CJ major at UH/D. It is important that those hours come from the following listing.

Core (these must be taken):

CRIJ 1301 Introduction to CJ
CRIJ 1306 Court Systems and Practices
CRIJ 1310 Fundamentals of Criminal Law
CRIJ 2313 Correctional Systems and Practices
CRIJ 2328 Police Systems and Practices

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board mandates the above courses for acceptance for the Criminal Justice Field of Study. In addition, the Board will allow UH/D to accept any two of the following courses toward its Criminal Justice degree. Not all four-year schools will do so.

CRIJ 1307 Crime in America 
CRIJ 1313 Juvenile Justice System 
CRIJ 2301 Community Resources in Corrections 
CRIJ 2314 Criminal Investigation 
CRIJ 2323 Legal Aspects of Law Enforcement

The Coordinating Board states that only those Criminal Justice courses with the rubric CRIJ that are listed above are eligible for college transfer credit. Also, courses that use the rubrics of CJLE, CJCR, and CJSA will not be transcribed as college credit. These are known as WECM courses. Tech Prep courses taken at high schools also do not transfer.

The following is a list of the transfer courses offered at the Community Colleges and their UH/D equivalents. You will receive credit for the course even though you will not receive upper level credit for those taught as upper level courses at UH/D. Don't repeat any of these courses for upper level credit as you can only receive credit for it once. They all count toward your degree. Pay attention to the information shown above and there will be plenty of opportunities for you to get the upper level requirement met without repeating them.

A copy of this document can be found on the UH/D website, www.uhd.edu listed under the CJ undergraduate degree program.

Criminal Justice Course Descriptions

For additional information contact
Phone: (713) 221-8194
Fax: (713) 226-5274
ahmadj@uhd.edu