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PROGRAM OF STUDY FOR THE
MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE
IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE

• develop additional analytical skills for in-service practitioners with BA/BS in the field or a closely related field
• provide practitioners in this region with access to graduate education in their field in order for them to be more competitive for promotion within state agencies.
• provide our undergraduates who wish to pursue an advanced degree regional access to one in their field of choice
• provide our undergraduate who are considering a Ph.D in the field a good foundation for further graduate studies.

No later than the second semester after a student enters the program, the student shall select a graduate committee of at least three faculty members from the graduate faculty, at least two of whom must be from the department of Criminology, Sociology, and Geography. By the end of the second semester the student shall submit a graduate plan to the committee for consideration, which shall indicate the courses the student plans to take to fulfill the degree requirements. At least two members of the committee must approve of the plan.

The student must write and defend a professional paper, one the student's graduate committee unanimously agrees is worth of presentation at a professional conference or submission to a refereed journal. The defense shall be open to all members of the graduate faculty of the University and shall be considered both an oral and written comprehensive examination. The student must otherwise comply with all existing graduate school policy at the time of admission

Admission Requirements:

1. BA or BS in Criminal Justice, Criminology, Political Science, Psychology, or Sociology.

2. Two letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose, AND

3. A 3.00 GPA in the final 60 hours of undergraduate work, or prior graduate degree, or at least 6 hours of graduate credit with a B or better in all courses attempted, or an LSAT score of 139 or better, or a combined GRE score of 900 (quantitative and verbal).

Degree Requirements

• Core Required Courses (12 hours total)
  • SOC 6233 Criminal Justice Systems
  • SOC 6133 Seminar in Policing
  • SOC 6513 Seminar in Community and Institutional Corrections
  • SOC 6523 Seminar in Criminal Behavior OR
  • SOC 6403 Seminar in Juvenile Delinquency

• Methods Courses (1 course required; 3 hours)
  • SOC 6343 Methods of Social Research
  • SOC 6253 Qualitative Methods of Social Research
  • SOC 5343 Geographical Information Systems for the Social Sciences

• Electives   (6 courses required; 18 hours total) from any of the following:
  • POSC 6553 Public Budgeting and Finance
  • POSC 6533 Seminar in Human Resource Management
  • POSC 6503 Managing Local Government
  • POSC 6523 Decision Making
  • SOC   6203 Social Psychology
  • SOC 5233 Social Organizations
  • SOC 6523 Criminal Behavior OR SOC 6403 Seminar in Juvenile Delinquency (whichever course was not taken to satisfy core requirements)
  • SOC 6123 Aging, Law and Social Issues
  • SOC 6423 Seminar in Race, Gender and Class
  • Any of the courses listed, but not taken for the methods requirement.
  • Other courses, with approval from the Director of the MACJ and the Chair of CSG