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Criminal Justice M.S.

The purpose of this degree is to provide students with an opportunity for graduate-level education and a specialized degree in criminal justice. This degree will meet the educational needs of several types of students: (1) existing and prospective criminal justice agency personnel wishing to advance their knowledge and credentials in criminal justice, (2) students wishing to prepare for doctoral level work, (3) students wishing to prepare for community college teaching, and (4) students seeking more knowledge of crime and criminal justice.

Master of Science in Criminal Justice--Total Semester Hours=36

Admission Requirements

  1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university.
  2. A minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4 point scale on the last 60 hours of upper division coursework leading to the baccalaureate degree.
  3. A minimum grade point average of 3.00 on at least 15 hours of undergraduate coursework in the social sciences.
  4. A minimum grade of “C” in an upper division social science research methods course.
  5. Three years of full-time employment in the social services or criminal justice sectors. A curriculum vita should be submitted to document employment. A satisfactory score on the Verbal and Quantitative sections of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) may be substituted for the employment requirement. The employment requirement may be waived if the applicant earned a minimum 3.25 overall undergraduate GPA or has previously earned a graduate degree from an accredited university. An applicant who does not either meet the employment requirement or satisfy the waiver option may submit scores on the Verbal and Quantitative sections of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) for consideration.
  6. Consideration is also given to one or more of the following: the applicant’s demonstrated commitment to his or her chosen field of study, socioeconomic background, first generation college graduate, multilingual proficiency, geographic region of residence, and level of responsibility in other matters including extracurricular activities, employment, community service, and family responsibilities.

Degree Requirements

The Master of Science in Criminal Justice is a 36-hour degree program. Students will choose from one of two concentrations: Criminal Justice Generalist or Management. The degree culminates with a capstone project. 

Required courses—27 hours

Capstone

CRIJ 5355Criminal Justice Capstone Seminar

Ethics:

CRIJ 5336Administrative Ethics

Administration:

CRIJ 5309Seminar in Criminal Justice Administration

Corrections:

CRIJ 5313Contemporary Issues in Corrections

Criminological Theory:

CRIJ 5303Contemporary Criminological Theory

Law Adjudication:

CRIJ 5302Judicial Policy and Social Process

Law Enforcement:

CRIJ 5332Law Enforcement: Environment and Practice

Research and Analysis:

CRIJ 5396Research Methods
CRIJ 5397Advanced Social Science Analysis

Area of Concentration

Criminal Justice Generalist

CRIJ 5307Criminal Justice Policy
CRIJ 5340Violence and Society
CRIJ 5310Topics in Criminal Justice

Management

PADM 5331Information Systems in Public Administration
PADM 5332Public Budgeting and Finance
PADM 5350Seminar in Human Resources Management (Same as MANA 5350)
or
Approved PADM Elective

Graduation Requirements

  1. All students must achieve a cumulative 3.0 GPA on all work applied to the degree.
  2. All students must earn a grade of a “B” or higher in the Capstone course (CRIJ 5355).