Defining the Discipline: Programmatic Student Learning Outcomes in Illinois Criminal Justice and Criminology Programs

Criminal justice education in the United States has evolved over more than a century, yet defining what programs should teach and accomplish remains unresolved, as scholars and professional organizations have long disagreed about the field’s core curricular priorities. To advance this conversation, the current study examines programmatic student learning outcomes (SLOs) across twenty-five baccalaureate-level programs in Illinois, a state where programs retain meaningful curricular autonomy in the current national political climate. Using inductive thematic analysis, we find that programs coalesce around a loose common core of criminological theory and critical thinking, but diverge significantly beyond that, with notable variation in whether programs address ethics, research, diversity, and even the criminal justice system itself. These findings illuminate the degree of curricular consensus the field has achieved and have implications for ongoing debates about disciplinary identity and the feasibility of shared standards in criminal justice education.