A major (also known as a major concentration or concentration) is a term for the specific group of courses that give you a basic knowledge of a field of study, which is in addition to your core curriculum. A major is a term most commonly applied to a program of study leading to a bachelor's degree. The Department, College or School offerign the justice and security program will define a framework for this specialized portion of your studies, including a certain number of required courses and a certain number of "elective" courses relevant to the major. The institution will also define your general education or foundation education requirements. Some majors effectively define your full course of study while others allow you considerable latitude, both within your field of study and in their other courses.
Although many students know what they want to take as their major before entering a university or college, some institutions do not allow you to officially declare your major until your second year so that you experience a broad range of courses that will help you choose the most appropriate major.
On the other hand, some universities and colleges in the US ask you to list a major choice on your application for admission. If you are interested in a major that requires a lot of classes, or classes that are limited to students in that major, you may have to declare earlier than usual. As well, for some majors you will need to take specific courses (pre-requisites) during your first year before you can even be considered eligible for upper level courses. Some justice and security majors have limited enrollment so in fact you may even be required to apply to get the major you want, including attending an interview or writing an essay.
Associate degree programs can also have majors, for example Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Homeland Security Management. Diploma and certificate programs don't have majors as such; they carry a designation (for instance Certificate in Intelligence Studies) which is more specific than a general degree title. Usually, the field of study at the community or cereer college level is job-focused to the point where students do not take "elective" courses as they do for bachelor's degrees. Hence the designation of the diploma or certificate effectively stands in for the "major."
A Career in Law? Motion Granted! Sure, you're probably attracted to a career in law for a few notable reasons, the prestige, the power, the chance to change the world - not to mention the money! But, are you really competitive enough to be a lawyer? Many students join the field of law to fight the bad guys but find themselves not competitive enough, leaving most just feeling jaded about the profession.
Many lawyers and law st... >[more]
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Program Spotlight
Georgia Institute of Technology The Center for Distance Learning (CDL) at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) offers individual engineering courses and graduate study leading to a master of science degree. Students can ...
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