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Law and Society

Contact

Ramapo College Office of Admissions

McBride House 505 Ramapo Valley Road Mahwah, NJ 07430

p: (201) 684-7300
e: admissions@ramapo.edu
f: (201) 684-7964

About Law and Society

Your Law and Society degree is a broad-based interdisciplinary study in the humanities and social sciences. That means that it provides a solid foundation for many career options, including public service, law enforcement ,health care, social services, and legal administration.

A number of Law and Society Ramapo graduates enter law school each year including Boston College LawSchool, Georgetown Law, New York Law School, Pace Law School, Rutgers School of Law, John Jay College, Seton Hall, and Syracuse University. Ramapo also offers a joint B.A./J.D Degree with Seton Hall Law School; this guaranteed admissions program is designed so that high achieving high school students who meet outlined criteria can be accepted to Ramapo and be guaranteed admission to Seton Hall Law School four years later.



Classes you can take:

See Full Program Requirements

Career Opportunities

Your Law and Society degree is a broad-based interdisciplinary study in the humanities and social sciences. That means that it provides a solid foundation for many career options, including public service, law enforcement ,health care, social services, and legal administration.

A number of Law and Society Ramapo graduates enter law school each year including Boston College LawSchool, Georgetown Law, New York Law School, Rutgers School of Law, John Jay College and Syracuse University. Ramapo also offers a joint B.A./J.D Degree with Seton Hall Law School; this guaranteed admissions program is designed so that high achieving high school students who meet outlined criteria can be accepted to Ramapo and be guaranteed admission to Seton Hall Law School four years later.

Sample Job Titles and National Salary Ranges

Job TitleSalary Range
First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers$85,590 - $133,750
First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives$109,680 - $172,810
First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers$83,640 - $159,920
Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers$46,540 - $129,730
Transit and Railroad Police$64,580 - $106,970
Lawyers$69,240 - Varies
Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates$38,340 - $202,600
Paralegals and Legal Assistants$35,980 - $87,960
Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers$32,900 - $97,560

* Sources of Information: United States Department of Labor: Bureau of Labor Statistics (2020). For more information about careers and assistance in making your career plans, please contact Career Services (cahill@ramapo.edu) or visit www.ramapo.edu/careercenter/.

Hands-On Learning

As a Law and Society Major, you’ll dive deeper into your studies through independent study, field work, and your Senior Thesis. Popular internships for our students have included the Mahwah Police Department, Bergen County Police Department, Bergen County Municipal Court, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), county and city courts, law firms, and state senators. Recent internship highlights include the United Nations, White House, and the international law firm White & Case (Germany).

The Ramapo Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) Center offers another opportunity for Law and Society majors to obtain hands-on experience in a new and exciting field in the only undergraduate training program in IGG in the country. The IGG Workshop (LAWS 365), where students learn how to conduct IGG and work on real cases from the IGG Center, provides 4-credits towards the Law and Society major. After completing the IGG Workshop, select students may continue to work on real cases of violent crime, unidentified human remains, and wrongful convictions at the IGG Center

All students in law and society must write a substantial thesis as their capstone. The best theses are published in the Ramapo Journal of Law and Society (www.ramapo.edu/law-journal), one of the few undergraduate law and society journals in the country. The Journal is run by Ramapo students, most of whom are law and society majors.

Our students also have an opportunity to organize and participate in our signature event series, the World of Law and SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) Discussion Series. The program is open to the entire college community, and has featured speakers from, among others, the Bronx Defenders, Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, Children’s Rights, Center for Reproductive Rights, Legal Aid, American Friends Service Committee, Outten & Golden.


Law and Society Minor

Crime and Justice Studies Minor

The Crime and Justice Studies minor provides students with the knowledge to understand the problem of crime in its broad societal context—social, cultural, political, and economic, both nationally and internationally. This includes understanding the causes and consequences of crime, criminal justice policy, and the role of law in redressing or reinforcing inequality and social problems with criminogenic ramifications.


Related Programs

Crime and Justice Studies

Bachelor of Arts

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Human Rights and Genocide Studies

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