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 areas from the student’s undergraduate work. Those who have not had such courses may need to take them as deficiencies which would not be part of their 30-hour program of study.
Additional requirements
Beyond the required courses, students must complete an additional 12 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 12 hours of study will reflect the student’s choice 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 coursework and directed studies related to a cognate area. Their 12 hours of study beyond the required courses will address the area of specialization, or cognate area, selected by the student. There are five possible cognate areas from which to choose:
- Policing
- Courts and the Criminal Process
- Corrections
- Women and Crime
- Juvenile Justice, Delinquency, and Gangs
In their final semester, these students must successfully complete written comprehensive exams covering topic areas from the required courses as well as their cognate area of study (see "Comprehensive exams" section of Web site).
Students must complete at least three hours of graduate work each semester (fall and winter) in order to maintain their standing in the program. At minimum, a 3.0 grade-point average must be attained in all work offered for graduate credit. Students should consult the General Graduate Academic Regulations and Information section of the UMKC catalog for regulations that apply to all graduate students.