The New York Institute of Technology has decided to cease admissions into the Criminal Justice program in Spring 2021.
The university decided to no longer accept new students based on financial losses related to Covid-19 and declining enrollment.
Nina Abdullah, administrative assistant for the Behavioral Sciences department (which includes Criminal Justice), sent an email to all students enrolled in that major: “New York Institute of Technology has decided to cease admissions to the B.S., Criminal Justice program.”
Only five students graduated with Bachelor of Science degrees in Criminal Justice in the 2020-21 academic year.
In addition to the declining enrollment in the B.S. Criminal Justice program, other factors played a role in phasing out the program as a standalone major, but none were disclosed.
Some Criminal Justice courses have been absorbed into the Interdisciplinary Studies program (see sidebar).
As a Criminal Justice student in my senior year, I witnessed a lack of importance given to the program. Students and professors in the department have opinionated on this matter by scrutinizing the school’s intentions regarding the significance that their programs have to them.
Students and professors often believe that the school spent more money on other projects rather than using that money to improve their classes by investing in new professors. As of Spring 2021, the B.S. Communication Arts, Political Science, Criminal Justice, and B.A. in English have all been terminated. In more than three to four years, I have had the same three professors for all of my classes related to my major. It is hard to fathom that there have been the same three professors since the program was initiated.
I reached out to my former classmate who had this to say about the Criminal Justice program: “I for sure think that they did not value the crim program like they do for others. It’s almost like they did not put any effort into improving it or the professors were not getting the appreciation they deserved. Knowing this now made me wish that I had gone to SUNY Old Westbury for crim because for 1. I pay double if not triple than what I would’ve paid at SUNY. 2. SUNY’s Crim program is considered to be one of the best in Long Island.”
How will this decision affect students who have paid so much money? Will other students have to transfer to another school or will they be able to obtain a B.S. degree in the Criminal Justice field?