Criminal Justice, M.A.

Program Admission

All applicants for regular admission to the Master of Arts in Criminal Justice degree program must meet the following criteria:

An overall grade point average of at least 2.50 on all undergraduate work pursued and a formula score of at least 1875 using the following formula: the combined total of the Verbal and Quantitative scores on the Graduate Record Examination multiplied by the student’s grade point average on all undergraduate work pursued.

If an applicant does not meet the criteria for regular admission to the degree program, but has at least a 2.20 grade-point average on all undergraduate work pursued and a formula score of at least 1650, he or she may be admitted conditionally upon recommendation of the Criminal Justice Committee on Graduate Admissions and Policy.

Students who are admitted conditionally may not earn more than one grade lower than ‘B’ and no grade lower than ‘C’ during the first 12 semester hours of graduate course work. Any graduate student in the Criminal Justice degree program who earns more than two grades less than ‘B’ or any grade less than ‘C’ on graduate work will not be allowed to continue in the Criminal Justice graduate program. Any student who pursues approved course work at another university must present a transcript at the end of the semester in which the student initially enrolls in the transfer course work. Students who do not present transcripts as required will not be allowed to continue in the Criminal Justice graduate program nor enroll in criminal justice graduate courses until such time as the transcript is received.

All applicants for entry into the Criminal Justice graduate program must present scores on the Graduate Record Examination prior to admission. Students who do not have undergraduate degrees in criminal justice may be required to complete specified undergraduate deficiency courses prior to enrolling in graduate criminal justice course work.

Program Requirements

Applicants must complete the bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution with a major in the field of Criminal Justice. Other bachelor’s degrees will be considered on an individual basis. Selected undergraduate background courses may be required to remove undergraduate deficiencies.

Basic core requirements for the Master of Arts in Criminal Justice are:

Thesis Option

Additional requirements for the thesis option include:

Nine semester hours of criminal justice electives
Six semester hours of
CJUS 5099 - Thesis

For a total of 33 semester hours

Non-Thesis Option

Additional requirements for the non-thesis option include:

Twelve (12) semester hours of criminal justice electives
Six semester hours in an approved supporting area

For a total of 36 semester hour for the degree.

Graduate Courses

Note: To receive graduate credit for a 4000-level course designated “For Undergraduate and Graduates,” a student must be in graduate admission status at the time credit is earned in the course. Credit earned in undergraduate admission status cannot be changed to graduate credit.