Master of Science in Criminal Justice and Criminology
Degree requirements:
The MS-CJC degree requires successful completion of 30 credit hours of graduate work. Within these 30 hours, students may elect to complete a thesis or pursue the non-thesis option. A core of six courses is required of all students. For detailed CJC graduate course descriptions, click here.
Required courses
CJC 5511 Sociological Methods II (Quantitative Methods); 3 hours
CJC 5515 Qualitative Research Methods in Criminal Justice;
3 hours
CJC 5580 Policy and Decision Making in Criminal Justice; 3 hours
CJC 5516 Intermediate Statistics; 3 hours
CJC 5518 Advanced Theoretical Criminology; 3 hours
One of the following:
CJC 5551 Seminar in Policing; 3 hours
CJC 5570 Contemporary Corrections and Correctional Policy; 3 hours
CJC 5575 Correctional Rehabilitation and Treatment; 3 hours
The required graduate courses in statistics, research methods and theory demand completion of prerequisite courses in these are from the student’s undergraduate work. Those who have not had such courses may be required to take the prerequisite course(s) prior to enrolling in the graduate course. Beyond the required courses, students must complete an additional 15 hours of academic work. This work may include thesis hours, courses in independent directed studies, classes from the CJC curriculum, or courses from other disciplines. The content of those 15 hours of study will reflect the student’s choice after consultation with their faculty adviser, with respect to thesis or non-thesis options.
Thesis
Those electing to write a thesis as part of their graduate work can receive up to six hours credit, CJC 5599, for preparation of the thesis. In addition to writing the thesis students must successfully complete an oral defense of that thesis before their supervisory committee. The research topic of the thesis will address some issue of specific interest to the student. Through courses, literature review, and analyses conducted in developing the thesis, students are expected to become proficient in their specific thesis topic area.
Non-thesis
Those electing the non-thesis option will take additional coursework in lieu of the 6.0 credit hours allotted for the thesis option outlined above.
Comprehensive Exam
During their final semester, students pursuing the non-thesis option must
successfully complete a comprehensive exam. The comprehensive exam will require
the student to write an independent research paper that outlines solutions to a
given scenario. After completion and submission of the paper, the student will
meet with a panel of three faculty members where an assessment of the paper will
be given (“Pass”, “Revise and Resubmit”, “Fail”). See the Principal Graduate
Adviser for more information regarding the comprehensive exam option.