Criminal Justice and Criminology (MA)
The Master of Arts in Criminal Justice and Criminology provides students with a cutting-edge education that will prepare them to assume leadership roles in criminal justice and related agencies as well as to pursue more advanced educational opportunities.
The Criminal Justice and Criminology (MA) also offers an Accelerated Master's Pathway for Undergraduate students to complete their Graduate studies in a fifth year. Further details of the AMP, including the suggested sequence of courses, can be found under the Curriculum tab.
Related Programs
Curriculum
The Master of Arts in Criminology and Criminal Justice requires 30 credit hours of coursework, consisting of five required courses (including a culminating experience) and five elective courses. In order to demonstrate cumulative proficiency, students are required to pass either Applied Research in Criminal Justice & Criminology or complete a thesis as their culminating experience. By default, all students are placed in the non-thesis option unless they select and are approved for the thesis option.
Besides the traditional Master's program, the Criminal Justice and Criminology (MA) is also offered as an Accelerated Master's Pathway where exceptional students can complete the program in a fifth year. A suggested sequence for the AMP can be found below.
Coursework Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| CJC 401 | Politics and Policies in the Criminal Justice System | 3 |
| CJC 402 | Theories of Criminal Behavior | 3 |
| CJC 403 | Research Methods and Program Evaluation 1 | 3 |
| CJC 404 | Applied Data Analysis and Interpretation 1 | 4 |
| Culminating Experience Course | ||
| CJC 408 | Applied Research in Criminal Justice & Criminology 1,3 | 2 |
| or CJC 501 | Thesis Research | |
| Select Five Electives 2 | 15 | |
| International Criminal Justice | ||
| Mental Illness and Crime | ||
| Criminal Victimization | ||
| Firearm Violence | ||
| Wrongful Convictions and the Law | ||
| Independent Study | ||
| Practicum in Criminal Justice | ||
| Variable Topics Electives - Maximum of 3 in each area | ||
| Advanced Topics in Criminology | ||
| Advanced Topics in Policing | ||
| Advanced Topics in Courts | ||
| Advanced Topics in Corrections | ||
| General Special Topics | ||
| Total Hours | 30 | |
- 1
Student must earn a grade of B or better in order to graduate (a B- or below will not fulfill this requirement), and class must be repeated if grade below a B is earned.
- 2
Students are required to take at least three graduate-level electives in the Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology. In consultation with the Graduate Program Director, students may also select up to two graduate-level electives among those offered within the Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology as well as from other programs such as Social Work, Psychology, Women's Studies and Gender Studies, Public Policy, and Sociology. Students can take no more than one online graduate-level elective outside of the Department.
- 3
Students choosing the thesis track will complete a research thesis and take CJC 501 Thesis Research, while students who choose a non-thesis option will complete a major research paper and take CJC 408 Applied Research in Criminal Justice & Criminology.
Thesis Option
Students who have aspirations to pursue research in their career, or pursue a PhD, should consider the thesis track. Optimally, students should complete CJC 403 during the fall semester of their first year in the graduate program. In order to be approved for the thesis option, students must receive permission from the Department of CJC’s Graduate Committee. The following requirements must be met:
- Completion of CJC 403 Research Methods and Program Evaluation with a grade of A- or better (no exceptions);
- Submission of a class paper to demonstrate writing skills that are acceptable to the Department of CJC’s Graduate Committee; and,
- Submission of a thesis approval form that provides a brief description of the proposed research question, the proposed methodology, and a detailed timeline.
Once a student has selected the thesis option, they will sign a written agreement acknowledging that they cannot switch back to the non-thesis option if it becomes too difficult or takes longer than anticipated.
Students will work with their thesis chairperson to complete an acceptable draft of their thesis proposal. The thesis proposal draft will consist of a detailed literature review, research questions or hypotheses, research design, analysis plan, and a discussion of the strengths and limitations of the proposed research.
If data collection involves human participants, students must follow all of the requirements established by Loyola’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the Protection of Human Subjects. Students cannot submit an IRB application until their thesis proposal is officially approved.
Once the formal thesis proposal has been approved, students will then work towards the completion of the research and composition of the thesis. Once final draft is reviewed and approved by entire committee, the student will make a formal presentation (defense) of the thesis and submit it to a publicly available database per Graduate School policies.
Suggested Sequence of Courses
Traditional Master's Program
| Year 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | |
| CJC 401 | Politics and Policies in the Criminal Justice System | 3 |
| CJC 403 | Research Methods and Program Evaluation | 3 |
| Elective 1 | 3 | |
| Hours | 9 | |
| Spring | ||
| CJC 402 | Theories of Criminal Behavior | 3 |
| CJC 404 | Applied Data Analysis and Interpretation | 4 |
| Elective 2 | 3 | |
| Hours | 10 | |
| Year 2 | ||
| Fall | ||
| Elective 3 | 3 | |
| Elective 4 | 3 | |
| Elective 5 | 3 | |
| Hours | 9 | |
| Spring | ||
| Select one of the following: | 2 | |
| Applied Research in Criminal Justice & Criminology | ||
| Thesis Research | ||
| Hours | 2 | |
| Total Hours | 30 | |
Accelerated Master's Pathway
Students can take up to 13 credit hours in the senior year with admission to the AMP. These credits are shared between the Bachelor's and Master's programs.
| Senior | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | |
| CJC 401 | Politics and Policies in the Criminal Justice System 1 | 3 |
| CJC 403 | Research Methods and Program Evaluation 1 | 3 |
| Hours | 6 | |
| Spring | ||
| CJC 402 | Theories of Criminal Behavior 1 | 3 |
| CJC 404 | Applied Data Analysis and Interpretation 1 | 4 |
| Hours | 7 | |
| Master's | ||
| Fall | ||
| Elective 1 | 3 | |
| Elective 2 | 3 | |
| Elective 3 | 3 | |
| Hours | 9 | |
| Spring | ||
| Elective 4 | 3 | |
| Elective 5 | 3 | |
| Select one of the following: | 2 | |
| Applied Research in Criminal Justice & Criminology | ||
| Thesis Research | ||
| Hours | 8 | |
| Total Hours | 30 | |
- 1
Students can choose to take an Elective course in the senior year in lieu of this course. Students will need to take this required course when it is offered in the Master's year.
Responsible Conduct of Research
All PhD students and students in thesis-based Master's degree programs must successfully complete UNIV 370 Responsible Conduct in Research and Scholarship or other approved coursework in responsible conduct of research as part of the degree requirements. It is strongly recommended that students complete this two-day training before beginning the dissertation/thesis stage of the program.
Guidelines for Accelerated Master's Pathways
In Accelerated Master’s Pathways, students share limited, authorized credits between their Undergraduate and Graduate degrees to facilitate completion of both degrees in a shorter amount of time. Shared credits are Graduate level credit hours (400-level or higher) taken during the Undergraduate career and then applied both to the Undergraduate degree and towards Graduate program requirements.
Admission and Matriculation
Accelerated Master's Pathways are designed to enhance opportunities for advanced training for Loyola’s Undergraduates. Admission to these programs is competitive and will depend upon a positive review of credentials by the Graduate program. Accordingly, the admission requirements for these programs may be higher than those required if the Master’s degree were pursued entirely after the receipt of a Bachelor’s degree.
Students enrolled in an Accelerated Master's Pathway who choose not to continue to the Master’s degree program upon completion of the Bachelor’s degree will face no consequences.
Ideally, a student will apply for admission to an AMP program as they approach 90 credit hours in their Undergraduate career.
Students will not officially matriculate into the Master’s degree program and be labeled as a Graduate student by the university, with accompanying changes to tuition and Financial Aid (see below), until the Undergraduate degree has been awarded. Once admitted to the Graduate program, students must meet the academic standing requirements of their Graduate program as they complete the program curriculum.
Advising and Registration
Students in their final Undergraduate year will work with Advising in the home School of their Bachelor's program(s), as well as the Graduate Program Director of the Master’s program. Any 400-level or higher courses that the student plans to enroll in should be reviewed by both advisors to ensure that these courses will complete requirements for both degrees.
Registration in Graduate level courses during the Undergraduate year may require assistance from the Graduate Program Director and/or the student’s current academic advisor to enroll.
Shared Credits
Only courses taken at the 400-level or higher will count toward the Graduate program. At the Undergraduate level, students are restricted to enrolling in and sharing up to the number of Graduate level credits explicitly indicated in the catalog for their selected AMP program.
In general, Graduate level coursework should not be taken prior to admission into the Accelerated Master's Pathway. Exceptions may be granted for professional programs where curriculum for the Accelerated Master's Pathway is designed to begin earlier. On the recommendation of the program’s Graduate Program Director, students may take one of their Graduate level courses before they are admitted to the Accelerated Master’s Pathway if they have advanced abilities in their discipline and course offerings warrant such an exception.
Degree Requirements and Conferral
Undergraduate degree requirements are in no way impacted by admission to an Accelerated Master’s Pathway. Students should not, for example, attempt to negotiate themselves out of a writing intensive requirement on the basis of admission to a Graduate program.
The program’s Graduate Program Director will designate credit hours to be shared through the advising form and Master’s degree conferral review process. Graduate credit hours taken during the Undergraduate career will not be included in the Graduate GPA calculation.
If students wish to transfer credits from another university to Loyola University Chicago, the program’s Graduate Program Director will review the relevant syllabus or syllabi to determine whether it meets the criteria for a 400-level course or higher.
Programs with specialized accreditation requirements that allow programs to offer Graduate curriculum to Undergraduate students will conform to those specialized accreditation requirements.
Degrees are awarded sequentially. All details of Undergraduate commencement are handled in the ordinary way as for all students in the School/College/Institute. Once matriculated in the Graduate program, students abide by the graduation deadlines set forth by the Graduate program. Students in these programs must be continuously enrolled from Undergraduate to Graduate degree program unless given explicit permission by their program for a gap year or approved leave of absence. In offering the option of an Accelerated Master’s Pathway, the university is making possible the acceleration of a student’s Graduate degree completion. It should be understood that students may not request deferral of their matriculation into the Master’s degree program. If students would like to delay their Graduate studies after earning the Undergraduate degree, they may apply for admission to the traditional Master’s degree program. Any application of Graduate credit earned while in the Undergraduate program is subject to the policies of the Graduate degree granting school.
Graduate & Professional Standards and Regulations
Students in graduate and professional programs can find their Academic Policies in Graduate and Professional Academic Standards and Regulations under their school. Any additional University Policies supersede school policies.
Learning Outcomes
The CJC graduate curriculum incorporates six Student Learning Outcomes:
- Graduates will be able to analyze and explain the criminal justice policy-making process.
- Graduates will be able to critically analyze and apply historical and contemporary theories of delinquency and criminality to design, evaluate, and inform effective prevention programs and intervention strategies.
- Graduates will be able to critically evaluate research designs to assess the quality, rigor, and scholarly contributions of empirical studies in criminology and criminal justice.
- Graduates will be able to generate, analyze, and accurately interpret statistical output using appropriate statistical software to inform evidence-based decision-making in criminal justice contexts.
- Graduates will be able to systematically design and conduct research by integrating concept formation, theory construction, research design, data collection, and data analysis as interrelated components of the research process.