Master of Science in Criminal Justice

The Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice requires 36 credit hours (12 courses). All students entering the program are required to complete five courses (15 credits) of core requirements, four electives (12 credits) in criminal justice, and three courses (9 credits) in a public administration specialization or general electives. The MSCJ program is available at University Park campus and fully online (see http://online.fiu.edu). The public administration specialization is not available online.

ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS

Applicants to the Master of Science in Criminal Justice program must have earned a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution with a minimum GPA of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) in all upper division coursework. For those students not meeting the 3.0 GPA requirement, conditional admission to the program may be granted if the student has a minimum GPA of 2.8 in all upper division undergraduate coursework or a combined verbal and quantitative score of 1000 or higher on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Those conditionally admitted must complete 12 graduate credits (including CCJ 6706) within two semesters of conditional admission and achieve a minimum graduate GPA of 3.25.

CURRICULUM

Core Requirements (15 credits). All candidates must take five core courses:

CJL 5421 Legal Issues in Criminal Justice Administration

CCJ 6025 Theory in Administration of Justice

CCJ 6705 Research Methods in Criminal Justice

CCJ 6706 Data Analysis in Criminal Justice

CCJ 6485 Criminal Justice Policy Analysis (must have 24 credits)

 

Criminal Justice Electives (12 credits). All elective credits must be earned at the graduate level in criminal justice (i.e., course numbers of 5000 and higher with the prefixes CCJ, CJC, CJE, CJJ, CJL and DSC).

Doctoral studies preparation: Advanced students intending to enroll in a doctoral degree program should complete CCJ 6915 Supervised Research.

College teaching certification: Students interested in college teaching should complete the Graduate Teaching Certificate Program offered by the Academy for the Art of Teaching and CCJ 6926 Supervised Teaching.

 

Public Administration Specialization (9 credits). This specialization is highly recommended for administrators or future administrators in the criminal justice system.

Select three of the following public administration courses:

PAD 6053 Political, Social and Economic Context of Public Administration

PAD 6227 Public Finance and the Budgetary Process

PAD 6605 Administrative Law and Procedures

PAD 6306 Policy Analysis and Program Planning

PAD 6434 Leadership and Decision Making

 

General Electives (9 credits). Students not enrolling in the public administration specialization must select three additional elective courses (9 credits). These courses may be taken outside of criminal justice, if no credits have been transferred in from another degree program or included in a joint degree program. All courses taken from outside fields must be relevant to criminal justice and approved by the Graduate Advisor. All elective credits must be earned at the graduate level (i.e., course numbers of 5000 and higher).

GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

Transfer Credits. A maximum of six graduate level credits not used to complete another degree may be transferred to the program from an accredited institution. The acceptance of these transfer credits are subject to the approval of the Graduate Advisor. The credits must have been completed with a grade of C or better, within six years preceding the admission to the graduate program. No internship or practicum credits will be accepted as transfer credits.

Graduation Requirements. To receive the master’s degree in criminal justice, a student must satisfy all University regulations governing graduate study. All students must be admitted to candidacy and complete the five core courses, four electives in criminal justice and three courses in a public administration specialization or general electives. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required. See the FIU Graduate Catalog for details on the Grade Point Average Requirement.

Candidacy for Degree. Admission to the program should not be construed as admission to candidacy for a degree. Students may apply for candidacy upon completion of 15 semester hours. Admission to candidacy should be completed before a student enrolls in his or her last 12 hours. See the FIU Graduate Catalog for details on the Applying for Candidacy.

Forgiveness Policy. Graduate students may repeat no more than two courses for the purpose of raising their overall grade point average (GPA), and no course may be repeated more than once. Students are responsible for submitting course repeat forms for the Forgiveness Policy to be applied (See the FIU Graduate Catalog for details on the Forgiveness Policy.