It is a general as sumption that a college education elevates disadvantaged students so they can enter the work-world on an equal footing with other college graduates. Despite this belief, the opportunity for success is reduced by various factors. One of these is "social privation". This paperreviews the economic and cultural elements germane to "social privation" and presents a curricular strategy for criminal justice programs to address this problem. The plan presented represents an experimental practicum project developed for a predominately-hispanic criminal justice program. The premise of the project was that quality criminal justice education should not only bridge the gap between theory and practice, but should also augment the career potential of disadvantaged students.