This combined major offers students the opportunity to gain cutting-edge data science skills and expertise in important and urgent social issues: crime, the law, and the criminal justice system. Data science classes allow students to develop skills in the collection, manipulation, storage, retrieval, and computational analysis of data in its various forms, including numeric, textual, image, and video data from small to large volumes. Criminology and criminal justice courses provide a foundation for understanding crime, the law, and our criminal justice system. Together, the combined major is designed to prepare students to apply data science skills to crime and justice topics. 

Complete all courses listed below unless otherwise indicated. Also complete any corequisite labs, recitations, clinicals, or tools courses where specified and complete any additional courses needed beyond specific college and major requirements to satisfy graduation credit requirements.

Universitywide Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the Universitywide Requirements.

NUpath Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the NUpath Requirements.

Data Computer Science Courses

Computer Science Overview
CS 1200First Year Seminar1
or CRIM 1000 Criminal Justice at Northeastern
CS 1210Professional Development for Khoury Co-op1
or EESH 2000 Professional Development for Co-op
Computer Science Required Courses
All students can take a self-assessment to attempt to place out of CS 2000 and CS 2001. Students who place out of CS 2000 and CS 2001 will instead substitute 4-5 semester hours of CS, CY, or DS coursework at the 3000 level or higher not otherwise required in the degree.
CS 1800
and CS 1802
Discrete Structures
and Seminar for CS 1800
5
CS 2000
and CS 2001
Introduction to Program Design and Implementation
and Lab for CS 2000
5
CS 3200Introduction to Databases4
Programming Sequence Pathways
Complete one of the following options: 9
Computer Science Option
Program Design and Implementation 1
and Lab for CS 2100
Program Design and Implementation 2
and Lab for CS 3100
Data Science Option
Intermediate Programming with Data
and Lab for DS 2500
Advanced Programming with Data
Data Science Foundations
DS 3000Foundations of Data Science4
DS 4200Information Presentation and Visualization4
DS 4300Large-Scale Information Storage and Retrieval4
DS 4400Machine Learning and Data Mining 14
Khoury Approved Electives
With advisor approval, directed study, research, project study, and appropriate graduate-level courses may also be taken as upper-division electives.
Complete 4 semester hours from within the following options:4
CS 2500 or higher, except CS 5010
CY 2000 or higher, except CY 4930
DS 2500 or higher, except DS 4900
Digital, Analytics, Technology, and Automation Research Practicum

Criminal Justice Courses

Introduction to Crime, Law, and the Justice System
What do we know about crime and justice? In these three courses, students have an opportunity to develop a foundational understanding of three related phenomena: why crime exists, how our criminal justice system responds to crime, and the constitutional and legal oversight of this process.
CRIM 1100Introduction to Criminal Justice4
CRIM 1110Criminal Due Process4
CRIM 1120Criminology4
Current Crime and Justice Issues
These courses introduce students to topical issues related to crime and justice.
Complete one of the following:4
The Death Penalty
Human Trafficking
Corruption, Integrity, and Accountability
Crime, Media, and Politics
Crime Problems and Criminal Justice Institutions
The 2000-level courses in this list ask how does justice work and for whom? These courses introduce students to the systems and institutions tasked with providing justice. Each includes experiential learning components in cooperation with local criminal justice institutions. The 3000-level courses in this list provide students with a deeper look at a range of crime problems.
Complete one of the following:4
Black Abolition Studies: Carcerality, Liberation, and Resistance
Courts: The Third Branch of Government
Youth Crime and Justice
Punishment in the Age of Mass Incarceration
Corporate Security: Securing the Private Sector
Policing a Democratic Society
Restorative Justice: Transforming the System
Black Families and Incarceration
Criminal Violence
Global Criminology
Psychology of Crime
Corporate and White-Collar Crime
Organized Crime
Political Crime and Terrorism
Criminal Law
Substance Use and Social Justice
Systemic Issues
These courses consider systemic issues facing the criminal justice system.
Complete one of the following:4
Gender, Crime, and Justice
Race, Crime, and Justice
Creating Knowledge About Crime and Justice
How do we know what we know about crime and justice—and how do we develop new knowledge? This course covers how to harness data to learn about issues, identify solutions, and advocate for change.
CRIM 3600Criminal Justice Research Methods4
Criminal Justice Capstone
CRIM 4949Senior Capstone Seminar4
Criminal Justice Elective
These courses round out our knowledge of crime and justice.
Complete two additional criminal justice electives from the 3000, 4000, or 5000 level.8

Integrative Course Requirement

Complete one of the following:4
Analyzing and Using Data on Crime and Justice
Crime Prevention

Supporting Courses

Mathematics Requirement
MATH 1341Calculus 1 for Science and Engineering4
Statistics Foundation
ECON 2350Statistics for Economists4
Computing and Social Issues
Complete one of the following:4
Issues in Race, Science, and Technology
The Law, Ethics, and Policy of Data and Digital Technologies
Cyberlaw: Privacy, Ethics, and Digital Rights
Knowledge in a Digital World
Knowledge in a Digital World
History of Technology
Bostonography: The City through Data, Texts, Maps, and Networks
Data Storytelling
Technology and Human Values
The Twenty-First-Century Workplace
Environment, Technology, and Society
Technology and Society

English Requirement

College Writing
ENGW 1111First-Year Writing4
or ENGW 1102 First-Year Writing for Multilingual Writers
Advanced Writing in the Disciplines
Complete one of the following:4
Advanced Writing in the Technical Professions
Advanced Writing in the Social Sciences
Interdisciplinary Advanced Writing in the Disciplines

Required General Electives

Complete 24 semester hours of general electives.24

Khoury College GPA Requirement

Minimum  cumulative 2.000 GPA required in all CS, CY, DS, and IS courses

NUpath Requirements Satisfied

  • Advanced Writing in the Disciplines
  • Analyzing and Using Data
  • Conducting Formal and Quantitative Reasoning
  • Demonstrating Thought and Action in a Capstone
  • Engaging Difference and Diversity
  • Engaging with the Natural and Designed World
  • Understanding Societies and Institutions
  • Writing in the First Year
  • Writing-Intensive in the Major ​

Integrating Knowledge and Skills Through Experience is satisfied through co-op.

Program Requirement

132 total semester hours required

Sample Plans of Study

Four Years, Two Co-ops in Summer Second Half/Fall

Year 1
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer 1HoursSummer 2Hours
CRIM 11004CRIM 11104CS 32004General Elective4
CS 12001CRIM 11204General Elective4General Elective4
CS 1800
and CS 1802
5DS 2500
and DS 2501
5  
CS 2000
and CS 2001
5MATH 13414  
ENGW 11114   
 19 17 8 8
Year 2
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer 1HoursSummer 2Hours
CRIM 36004CS 12101CJ elective4Co-op0
DS 30004DS 42004General Elective4 
DS 35004ECON 23504  
CJ current issues elective4General Elective4  
 Khoury Elective 14  
 16 17 8 0
Year 3
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer 1HoursSummer 2Hours
Co-op0DS 43004ENGW 33024Co-op0
 Computing and social issues4General Elective4 
 CJ problems and institutions elective4  
 CJ systemic elective4  
 0 16 8 0
Year 4
FallHoursSpringHours  
Co-op0CRIM 49494  
 DS 44004  
 CJ integrative course4  
 CJ Elective4  
 0 16  
Total Hours: 133

Four Years, Two Co-ops in Summer First Half/Spring

Year 1
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer 1HoursSummer 2Hours
CRIM 11004CRIM 11104CS 32004General Elective4
CS 12001CRIM 11204General Elective4General Elective4
CS 1800
and CS 1802
5DS 2500
and DS 2501
5  
CS 2000
and CS 2001
5MATH 13414  
ENGW 11114   
 19 17 8 8
Year 2
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer 1HoursSummer 2Hours
CS 12101Co-op0Co-op0General Elective4
CRIM 36004  CJ elective4
DS 30004   
DS 35004   
CJ current issues elective4   
 17 0 0 8
Year 3
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer 1HoursSummer 2Hours
DS 42004Co-op0Co-op0ENGW 33024
ECON 23504  General Elective4
General Elective4   
Khoury Elective 14   
 16 0 0 8
Year 4
FallHoursSpringHours  
DS 43004CRIM 49494  
Computing and social issues4DS 44004  
CJ problems and institutions elective4CJ integrative course4  
CJ systemic elective4CJ Elective4  
 16 16  
Total Hours: 133