M.S. Criminal Justice Administration

The CJA program faculty offer students individualized attention with a low student-to-faculty ratio, as faculty can work one-on-one with students as they prepare for their future education and career aspirations. The CJA curriculum is designed to maximize student success and assist students in further developing their critical thinking, analytical, decision-making, and deductive reasoning skills. The criminal justice faculty collaborate with several local, state, and federal agencies and organizations within the criminal justice and victim services field, and work to have their students placed in internship positions that allow them to apply their education in real-life situations. Students also have opportunities to engage in research with faculty members and develop analytical skills that prepare them for doctoral work, law school, or leadership positions in a wide range of criminal justice-related fields.

The CJA program curriculum is intentionally designed to be flexible. While the CJA program offers the foundational, core courses as requirements in the curriculum, there is ample room for students to adapt their program plan to meet their individualized needs through flexible electives, independent research, internship opportunities, and more. This means a student who intends to pursue a law degree post-graduation will find the CJA program fits their needs just as well as the student who is completing their CJA degree to pursue leadership positions within the agency they have worked at for the past 10 years.

All of the CJA program faculty members hold earned doctorates in Criminology & Criminal Justice, a notable fact not found in any comparable regional program. All are published scholars within their areas of expertise, and collectively, they cover the main areas of the criminal justice and victim services fields. They are all experienced teachers and regularly make presentations at professional conferences.

The CJA program offers a series of foundational courses, such as ‘Theories of Crime,’ ‘Criminal Justice Management,’ and ‘Seminar in Criminal Justice Research Methods,’ in combination with up-to-date electives, such as ‘Criminal Courts,’ ‘Restorative Justice,’ ‘Race, Gender, and Class in the Criminal Justice System,’ and ‘Victimization.’ To view the full course listings, please visit our .

The CJA program offers courses in all three delivery methods to ensure students have the flexibility they need to meet their individual scheduling needs. You can opt to take all of the courses fully online or you can choose to complete the course work through a combination of methods. Courses are generally offered in afternoons and evenings during the week, and some Saturdays on the weekends. You can also do 100% online classes or a combination of everything!

Yes! You can complete all of the curriculum requirements online, if preferred.

The CJA program requires the completion of 11 courses that total 33 credit hours, including a capstone project. Students are given a choice for their capstone project – either complete a capstone policy paper course or a research thesis project.

Yes! The faculty within the CJA program are actively engaged in research partnerships and work collaboratively with numerous agencies and organizations that represent the main components of the criminal justice system and victim services. There are several opportunities available to gain unique research, internship, and experiential learning experiences.

The CJA graduate program requires the completion of 11 courses (33 credits). Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ offers flexible scheduling to allow students to work at their own pace; typically, the completion time of the program is two years. Most students complete the program in a year and a half. The program can be completed in one calendar year for full-time students and three calendar years for part-time students.

The CJA graduate program is designed to accommodate students from various backgrounds and is particularly useful for those with some academic experience in criminal justice. However, students are not required to have a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and criminology to be admitted into the CJA program. Students are required to hold a bachelor’s degree in any field to be eligible for graduate school.

Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ currently offers more than 60 different assistantships, scholarships, and award opportunities for graduate students. Eligibility is based on applications and maintenance of good academic standing, course completion, and satisfactory work performance. Students need to reapply annually for positions and assistantships. For more information on scholarships and what is needed to apply, please visit the graduate scholarship website.

The field of criminology and criminal justice is broad and complementary to several other human service careers. Within the three main pillars of the criminal justice system itself – law enforcement, courts, and corrections — there are numerous careers that holding a M.S. in Criminal Justice Administration degree would prove beneficial. The CJA graduate degree will help position students for better placement and consideration for leadership positions across the three pillars and within agencies and organizations (government and non-profit) that provide supportive services to those who are identify as being justice-involved or are victims of crime (e.g., case management victim advocacy and shelter support, diversion and intervention, and prevention education programming).

The CJA graduate degree can also provide an excellent stepping stone for students who are preparing to continue their education by pursuing a professional or doctoral degree, as students can choose to explore additional research and applied learning opportunities that offer skills they will need in their future educational endeavors.

The application, accompanied by a $30 fee payable to Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ, requires the following information during the online submission process:

• Official transcripts of all previous college and university work should be sent directly to Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ from the corresponding registrar of each institution. Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ alumni can contact the Graduate Director of the CJA Program to request their undergraduate transcript be added to their application directly.
• Two letters of recommendation from persons who know your qualifications and can assess your ability to perform graduate work.
• A personal statement (approximately 500 words or less) that explains why you wish to pursue the CJA graduate degree.
• Scores on the GRE aptitude test are to be sent directly to Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ from the Educational Testing Service. Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ alumni who received a B.A. or B.S. from the College of Arts and Sciences in the last five years may waive the GRE requirement if their overall undergraduate GPA was 3.0 or better. GRE scores may be waived by the CJA program depending on professional experience and undergraduate performance. For further details or questions, please contact the Graduate Director of the CJA Program.
• For students whose native language is not English, scores on the TOEFL must be sent directly by the testing service.

To apply, you can visit the graduate admissions website.

The CJA program has a rolling admissions policy, meaning that submitted applications are considered as they are received. Each application is evaluated in a holistic fashion in keeping with the university mission. The earlier you apply, the sooner your application will be considered. To apply, you can visit the graduate admissions website.

On the home page of the CJA program website, there is an option to request information by filling out your contact information. This will allow for the Director of the CJA program to reach out to you with more information. There are also virtual information sessions that can offer more information to prospective students. For times, dates, locations, and registration details, please visit our .

Yes! A combined maximum of four courses (12 credit hours), including transfer credit from an accredited institution and courses outside of the criminal justice administration department at Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ, may be allowed. Previously taken graduate courses must be reviewed and approved by the Graduate Director of the CJA program. Preapproval by the Graduate Director of the CJA program to take any courses outside of the CJA program must be obtained by the student before registration for the course(s).

Courses affiliated with Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ’s other graduate programs, such as mental health counseling, information security and digital forensics, and MBA, are available to current CJA graduate students and can be taken as elective course requirements. However, preapproval by the Graduate Director of the CJA program to take any courses outside of the CJA program must be obtained by the student before registration for the course(s).

Yes! The Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice offers an accelerated 4+1 master’s degree program that allows undergraduate students to take up to three CJA graduate courses that count toward both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees. For more information, please visit the Accelerated Master’s Programs page.

Details regarding tuition for the CJA program can be found on our tuition and fees website.

Yes! The CJA program is intentionally designed to be flexible, and most classes meet after 4 p.m. ET, on Saturdays, or are delivered asynchronously online. This allows students to plan their educational schedules alongside their career and personal schedules.