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Master of Science in Criminal Justice

The Criminal Justice Master's Degree requires 36 semester units of course work. The program consists of six core courses and a series of electives. The program is designed to be completed in a two-year, full-time traditional program on CSULB's campus. In addition, we offer an off-campus accelerated master's program to be completed in 18-19 months of classes offered on Saturdays.

• To view the course requirements, click here.
  
  
• To view the courses offered, view the University Catalog.
  
  
• Press here to download our Graduate Student Handbook.

Admissions to the Graduate Program

• Application Deadlines

  The Department of Criminal Justice admits students once per year for fall start dates. Only those applicants who have earned a bachelor's degree from a regionally-accredited college or university are eligible for admission. The deadlines are as follows:

  • CSU Mentor and Program Application Deadline: February 15, 2013
    
    
  • Application Fee Deadline: February 22, 2013
    
    
  • Transcript and Supporting Documents Deadline: March 8, 2013

  Note: March 8th is the date on which application files must be complete. Thus, applicants must be sure that we receive all of the required materials (e.g., letters of recommendation, GRE scores, official transcripts, etc.) by the applicable deadline. Applications that are incomplete on the due date will not be reviewed. Applicants are, therefore, strongly encouraged to submit their application materials early.

  To view the online application instructions and university deadlines, click on the links below:

  • Application instructions
  • University admission deadline

• Admissions Process

  • Applying to the master's program in criminal justice at CSULB requires a dual application. One version of the application must be electronically submitted to the University using CSU Mentor. But being accepted to the University is only the first step; you must also be admitted to the master's program in criminal justice. That is accomplished by submitting all of the materials specified below either to Enrollment Services or to the Department of Criminal Justice's Graduate Advisor, whichever is indicated below.
    
    
  • When completing the online application at CSU Mentor:
    
    
    • the first item on the application form asks: TERM APPLYING FOR. Whether you are applying for the full-time, on-campus master's program or the accelerated, off-campus M.S.-E program, students should indicate the Fall semester and the year in which they desire to enroll (we do not admit students in the spring semester).
      
      
    • The second item asks: MAIN CAMPUS/OFF-CAMPUS CENTER. Applicants for the full-time, on-campus master's program should indicate "Main Campus"; applicants for the accelerated, off-campus M.S.-E program should indicate: “Special Session Degree Program.”
      
      

    • The third item asks: MAJOR/PROGRAM OBJECTIVE. Applicants for the full-time, on-campus master's program should indicate "Criminal Justice M.S."; applicants for the accelerated, off-campus master's program should indicate: “Criminal Justice M.S.-E.”

• Admission Requirements

1. Complete a University Application via CSU Mentor.
   
   
• When completing the electronic application, print-out two copies of the university application; then:
  
  
  • send a hard-copy of the completed application to the Criminal Justice Department; and
    
    
  • keep a copy for your own records.
• When applying for the off-campus accelerated program, please indicate this where it asks for "Program of Study."
2. Send official GRE scores to CSULB directly from Educational Testing Service (ETS). Scores must be from within three (3) years of the date of application. Moreover, GRE scored must be received by CSULB before the application deadline or your application will be automatically rejected. In other words, if your application is incomplete because we have not received your GRE scores by the date of the application deadline, will you will be denied admission.
   
   
   • Minimum Scores:
     
     
     • A score of 4.0 or higher (out of a maximum possible score of 6.0) must be earned on the GRE writing test to qualify for admission. Scores of 5.0 or higher are strongly preferred. Prospective applicants scoring 3.5 or lower on the analytic writing section of the GRE should not apply for admission to either of the master’s programs in criminal justice, as they will be automatically denied admission.
       
       
     • The Department of Criminal Justice does not require any minimum scores on the verbal or quantitative sections of the GRE Revised General Test. However, applicants should be guided by the following standards.
       
       
       • Verbal: The chances for admission are quite low for applicants who do not score at least 146 on the verbal section of the GRE Revised General Test (or 400 on the former GRE General Test scale).
         
         
       • Quantitative: The chances for admission are quite low for applicants who do not score at least 145 on the quantitative section of the GRE Revised General Test (or 530 on the former GRE General Test scale).

       Thus, we generally expect applicants to have a combined score of at least 291 on the GRE Revised General Test (or 930 on the former GRE General Test scale). We strongly prefer, however, that applicants score 150 or higher on the verbal section of the GRE Revised General Test (or 450 verbal on the former GRE scale) and 148 (or 590 on the former GRE scale) on the quantitative section, yielding a preferred combined score of at least 298 (or 1040 on the former GRE scale).
       

   • The GRE Revised General Test is offered year-round at computer-based test centers in the U.S., Canada, and many other countries. To see where you may take the computerized test, visit the ETS Test Center Listing web site.
     
3. Send an official transcript from each college and/or university you attended (including transcripts from community colleges) to CSULB's Enrollment Services; you do not need to send a copy of your transcript to the Department of Criminal Justice Graduate Advisor.
   
   
   • Please Note: A minimum GPA of 2.5 overall is required for admission into CSULB's graduate programs. However, the Department of Criminal Justice typically only accepts students who earned a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
4. Submit three (3) letters of recommendation directly to the Department of Criminal Justice Graduate Advisor.
   
   
   • Please Note: Letters from college professors who can address your research, writing, and analytical skills are strongly preferred. If, however, you are unable to get letters from former professors, then letters from work supervisors who can similarly address your research, writing, and analytical skills may be submitted. Please be sure to let your references know that their letters must be received by CSULB no later than the application deadline.
5. Send a résumé directly to the Department of Criminal Justice Graduate Advisor. The résumé should describe your academic achievements (including honors and awards), extracurricular activities, as well as relevant work, internship, and volunteer experiences.
   
   
6. Write a typewritten letter of intent (a formal application essay) between 3 and 5 double-spaced pages in length (i.e., 750 word minimum; 1,250 word maximum) and send it directly to the Department of Criminal Justice Graduate Advisor. This essay should address all of the following:
   
   
   • What motivates you to apply for a graduate degree?
     
     
   • What are your relevant research and practical experiences that qualify you for admission?
     
     
   • What are your specific areas of interests in criminal justice practice, policy, and/or research?
     
     
   • With whom on our faculty you would like to work and why?
     
     
   • What are your personal goals and objectives for earning a master's degree in criminal justice?
     
   Please be sure not to restate the information on your résumé. Rather, you should explain the underlying reasons why you seek a master's degree in criminal justice from CSULB (as opposed to earning a different graduate degree or a master's in criminal justice at another university offering the degree).

• All of the items that are to be sent to the Department of Criminal Justice Graduate Advisor (i.e., a hard copy of your online application, three letters of recommendation, your résumé, your letter of intent/application essay, and your statement of research interests) should be addressed to:

Please Note: When communicating by email, please do NOT send attachments without a brief note explaining who you are and what you are sending. Email with unexplained attachments will not be opened.

Course Prerequisites

It is important to note that some of our master's-level courses have undergraduate prerequisites that must be taken before graduate students may enroll. Some substitution for prerequisites are permissible; contact the Graduate Advisor for details.

The prerequisites are:

1. Graduate students must have taken CRJU 101: Introduction to Criminal Justice in Society, or an equivalent introductory criminology/criminal justice course during their undergraduate careers that exposed them to the primary components of the criminal justice system (e.g., CRIM 101). Alternatively, students may take a qualifying exam demonstrating their understanding of the criminal justice system at a sufficient level to waive this requirement.
   
   
2. In order to register for CRJU 504: Advanced Criminological Theory, graduate students must have taken CRJU 304: Criminological Theory or an equivalent undergraduate course in theoretical criminology (e.g., CRIM 404). Alternatively, students may take a qualifying exam demonstrating their understanding of basic criminological theory at a sufficient level to waive this requirement.
   
   
3. In order to register for CRJU 520: Research Methods, graduate students must have taken CRJU 320 (or CRIM 480) or an equivalent undergraduate-level social scientific research methods course (in psychology, sociology, political science, or the like).
   
   
4. In order to register for CRJU 525: Advanced Statistics, graduate students must have taken CRJU 325 (e.g., CRIM 303, PSY 110) or equivalent undergraduate-level social scientific applied statistics course (in psychology, sociology, political science, or the like).
   

• Although these prerequisite classes are offered at CSULB, you may take them at any regionally-accredited college or university. If these classes are offered in departments other than criminology/criminal justice (e.g., sociology, psychology, political science), you will need the approval of the Graduate Advisor.

• Please be advised that if you have not taken one or more of the prerequisites, you may still apply and be admitted to the M.S. in criminal justice. You will, however, need to take some of the prerequisite courses over the summer before you begin graduate study and then, if necessary, complete the remainder of the prerequisites during your first year in our master's program.
  
  

Legal Competency

• For students to be successful in our graduate seminar in law and social control (CRJU 555), they need to have taken a course in substantive criminal law (e.g., CRJU 340) and another in constitutional criminal procedure (e.g., CRJU 350). It is, therefore, strongly recommended that students applying to the M.S. program complete courses in these two areas during their undergraduate studies. If, however, a student lacks knowledge of criminal law and procedure upon admission to our master's program, that is not a problem. We will make arrangements for such students take graduate-level law courses as part of their electives while in our master's program.

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