School of Criminal Justice

Admission and Requirements

Admission to Graduate Program in Criminal Justice

The minimum GVSU requirements are listed in the Admissions section of the catalog.
Applicants must have a bachelor's degree and should have an overall undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 or higher or a 3.0 or higher grade point average calculated on the last 60 hours of undergraduate work. All applicants must also include a personal statement detailing academic preparation, background experiences and professional, educational and career goals and submit three letters of recommendation.

The Graduate Committee reserves the right to require additional information it deems appropriate, including GRE test scores. The committee may also require applicants to appear for an oral interview. The decision of the Graduate Committee is final.

If you are interested in receiving admission materials, please contact Dr. Carly Hilinski, MCJ Graduate Program Coordinator.

Applications for fall admission should be received by May 1 (applications received by March 1 will be given priority); winter admission applications should be received by November 1 (applications received by September 1 will be given priority).

Transfer Credit
Up to 6 hours of transfer credit may be applied to the degree program. Such credit
must meet the requirements specified in the "Transfer of Credit" section of this
catalog, be recommended as applicable to the degree program by a graduate faculty
advisor, and be approved for transfer application by the MCJ Graduate
Program Coordinator.

Dual Credit
In accordance with GVSU policy, undergraduates may enroll in some graduate
courses (see prerequisites) but must have: at least a 3.0 GPA; completed 85
semester hours; a permit from the instructor; and must fill out the GVSU "Dual Credit
Request Form." Credit earned can be used as part of an undergraduate program or as
part of a future graduate program but cannot be used for both purposes.

Strongly Recommended:
Students who do not have undergraduate degrees in criminal justice or criminology may be required to take undergraduate courses at the discretion of the MCJ Graduate Program Coordinator. Approved courses, such as, introduction to criminal justice, criminology, research methods and statistics are highly recommended prior to acceptance into the program. These are preparatory courses and cannot be used to satisfy graduate degree requirements; only graduate credits can be applied to degree requirements.

Master of Science in Criminal Justice
Requirements

The criminal justice master's degree consists of a minimum of 36 credit hours. The
core of required courses consists of 18 credit hours as follows:

A) CORE REQUIRED COURSES:
     CJ 601 Criminal Justice Leadership
     CJ 602 Legal and Ethical Issues
     CJ 604 Criminal Justice Policy and Program Evaluation
     CJ 606 Research Methods I

CJ 607 Advanced Criminology

CJ 608 Research Methods II

B) Choose One of These Courses:
     CJ 620 Advanced Police Systems
     CJ 621 Advanced Corrections Systems
     CJ 622 Advanced Juvenile Justice Systems
     CJ 623 Advanced Private Security Systems

C) Nine (9) to twelve (12) hours of Electives, One (1) must be from OUTSIDE of Criminal Justice:

     CJ 611 Community Policing*
     CJ 640 Graduate Internship - highly recommended for students who have no prior criminal justice or private security work experience.
     CJ 642 Victimology*
     CJ 644 Forensic Behavior and Law*
     CJ 640 Special Topics Seminar
     CJ 685 Criminal Justice Workshops
     CJ 699 Directed Readings
    Outside CJ Graduate Course -- must be pre-approved by Graduate Director and/or advisor

*dual-listed courses

D) Choose One of the Following Courses:
CJ 693 Criminal Justice Project - 3 credits
CJ 695 Criminal Justice Thesis - 6 credits

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