DEKALB, IL — Clare Steffes has long been fascinated by the study of crime and its impact on individuals and society.
So, when NIU officially launched a criminology major this fall, she jumped at it.
The 21-year-old from Kankakee, who expects to graduate in December 2025, wants one day to become an investigator and bring to justice child predators.
“I want to leave the world a better place than how I was born into it, and I feel that my skills are best fit for helping the criminal justice system once I graduate,” she said.
Steffes is one of 278 students enrolled in the Department of Sociology and Criminology this fall. She recently switched from a sociology major with a criminology emphasis to the new standalone program.
Students now can work towards a bachelor of arts or a bachelor of science degree in criminology. The major’s launch coincides with a departmental name change. What was the Department of Sociology is now the Department of Sociology and Criminology, underscoring the full integration of criminology in the department’s curriculum moving forward.
Abu Bakarr Bah, Ph.D., Presidential Research Professor of Sociology and chair of the Department of Sociology and Criminology.
“Criminology allows us to take a broad and critical view of issues surrounding crime and justice,” said Abu Bakarr Bah, Ph.D., Presidential Research Professor of Sociology and chair of the Department of Sociology and Criminology. “This new major reflects student demand and will help Huskies graduate with the knowledge and tools to succeed in a wide range of professions.”
For Steffes, the new criminology major brings a sharper focus.
“I’m really learning about how crime works in depth instead of just learning a little bit about it, with the sole focus being on sociology,” she said. “Now I’m able to take classes that really home in on crime and do not treat it as a side topic.”
The program builds on NIU’s long-standing strengths in sociology. Students explore the causes of crime, the operation of justice systems and the social factors that shape laws and institutions, preparing for careers in law enforcement, courts, corrections, policy, nonprofit advocacy and graduate studies.
The criminology major grew out of a broader effort to strengthen sociology at NIU, Bah said.
“We realized that sociology is an incredibly valuable and versatile discipline, but because it’s so broad, many people don’t fully understand what you can do with it,” Bah said. “It’s very useful, but you have to know how to apply it.”
To make the sociology degree’s value clearer to students and employers, Bah and his colleagues researched how graduates use their sociology degrees in the job market. The result was a new structure that pairs the sociology major with a series of focused, career-relevant certificate programs.
“We came up with the idea that we should build some certificates into the sociology program,” Bah said. “We wanted them to be simple and manageable, with not a lot of extra requirements. Students can still graduate with a sociology degree even without a certificate, but these certificates help clarify career paths and highlight areas of expertise.”
The department had already offered a criminology certificate but saw room to grow. Based on areas where sociology majors excel in the workforce, they introduced additional certificates, including:
- Earth Science and Social Justice
- Social Service Institutions and Organizations
- Social Justice and Social Change
- Social Science Research and Analysis
- Sociology of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
“We essentially packaged existing sociology classes in a way that leads to a certificate,” Bah explained. “If a student takes courses A, B and C, they earn a certificate that signals to employers what skills and knowledge they have.”
The department has also added a one-credit-hour professional skills course starting this spring.
The class will help students identify and communicate the value of their degree, said Kristie Crane, undergraduate advisor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology. It will highlight skills such as critical and analytical thinking, writing, communication, collaboration and social awareness. Alumni will visit to share how they’ve leveraged their sociology degrees in their careers.
“Students wanted this. They enjoy sociology, but they really wanted that word criminology on that degree, and we wanted them to be more attractive to potential employers,” said Kristie Crane, undergraduate advisor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology.
“We’ve had parents say, ‘What can my kid do with this degree?’” Crane said. “This class is going to explain all that.”
Since the changes, enrollment in classes and majors in the department steadily has increased. Overall enrollment has increased by 40 percent since fall 2022.
Along with increasing enrollment, the department has benefited from several endowments totaling more than $1.8 million in the past couple years, Bah said.
The curricular update not only strengthened sociology but also paved the way for the new criminology major.
“Students didn’t know we had criminology as an emphasis until they got here and asked questions,” Crane said. “That’s a big reason this was on our radar. Students wanted this. They enjoy sociology, but they really wanted that word criminology on that degree, and we wanted them to be more attractive to potential employers.”
Media Contact: Jami Kunzer
About NIU
Northern Illinois University is a student-centered, nationally recognized public research university, with expertise that benefits its region and spans the globe in a wide variety of fields, including the sciences, humanities, arts, business, engineering, education, health and law. The Wall Street Journal and CollegeNET recognize NIU as a leading institution for social mobility, or helping its students climb the socioeconomic ladder. Through its main campus in DeKalb, Illinois, and education centers for students and working professionals in Chicago, Naperville and Rockford, NIU offers more than 100 areas of study while serving a diverse and international student body.
