School of Public Service

M.S. in Criminal Justice

Department of Criminal Justice and Security Administration

The Master of Science in Criminal Justice is designed for students interested in a career in the public or private sector. In addition to the traditional concentration in criminal justice, specializations are available in Fraud Examination and Security Administration. These fields of study prepare students for entry and advancement within such areas as probation, parole, law enforcement, court administration, corrections, juvenile justice, diversionary programs and security management. The major also serves as a well-planned course of study for those planning to continue in related disciplines through advanced graduate work.

The department's staff is comprised of both full-time and adjunct faculty. Full-time faculty members are involved with multifaceted research related to the many areas of criminal justice. Adjunct faculty members are working criminal justice system professionals.

The complete set of rules and regulations to maintain matriculation as well as other requirements to obtain the M.S. degree in Criminal Justice are available from the graduate counselor in the Department of Criminal Justice.

Admission Requirements

A student applying for admission to the program must have a bachelor's degree and a minimum of a 3.00 undergraduate cumulative grade point average. An applicant must also submit two letters of recommendation and a personal statement.

Residence Requirements and Transfer Credits

A degree candidate must complete at least 24 credits in residence. Residency is defined as the completion of graduate courses offered by the department or approved courses offered by other graduate departments. Graduate courses taken at other institutions before admission, may, if approved by the chairperson, be applied toward the master's degree. Transfer credit is limited to twelve (12) semester hours of credit and granted only for grades of B or better.

Matriculation Policy

A student is fully matriculated into the Department of Criminal Justice when he or she meets all of the admission requirements for the Master of Science in Criminal Justice degree program.

Limited Matriculation

Limited matriculation indicates that the student does not meet some requirements for full matriculation. In cases where any of the supporting documents specified are missing, an applicant may be granted conditional acceptance.

Permission to enroll as a limited matriculant will be granted by the Admissions Committee of the Department of Criminal Justice only to those applicants who appear to meet the admissions standards. Such students will be required to furnish these missing documents within the first semester of enrollment.

Probation

A student must maintain at least a 3.00 cumulative grade point average in the M.S. program. Any student whose cumulative grade point average falls below 3.00 will be evaluated by the Academic Standing Committee of the Department of Criminal Justice, issued a letter of warning, and placed on probation. A student on probation who fails to bring his or her average up to 3.00 in the succeeding semester may be dropped from the program. In addition, a student who receives grades below B in two graduate courses is considered to have an academic deficiency. A third grade below B, after the student receives a formal warning of the deficiency, may cause the student to lose matriculated status or be dropped from the graduate program.

Incomplete Grades

Under special circumstances, a faculty member may assign a grade of Incomplete (I). An Incomplete in CRJ 707 or CRJ 708 must be removed within 18 months and an Incomplete for all other courses must be removed within 6 months from the start of the semester subsequent to the semester in which the Incomplete was issued.

Alternate Site Locations

The Department also offers the Master of Science in Criminal Justice at the Brentwood Campus of Long Island University in Suffolk County. All program and course requirements at the C.W. Post Campus are in effect for all extension facilities.

A criminal justice program for in-service personnel is offered, at reduced tuition rates, at the Nassau County Department of Probation. Admission is limited to employees of criminal justice and related government agencies.Criminal Justice - M.S.The Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice is awarded upon successful completion of 36 credit hours of coursework. The curriculum requires 21 credits of required coursework and 15 credits of electives. Students may substitute 15 credit hours in a specific concentration for the required 15 credits of electives.

Degree Requirements

Required Courses (21 Credits)
CRJ 555 Technology and the Criminal Justice System
*CRJ 675 Critical Issues in Law and Society
CRJ 690 Theories of Crime Causation
CRJ 699 Foundations of Scholarship
CRJ 700 Research Design and Method
CRJ 707 Thesis Research
CRJ 708 Thesis Consultation
*Not required by the 18 credit Fraud Examination concentration
Electives (15 credits)
Five 3-credit elective courses

Total credits - 36

Concentrations
The M.S. degree program offers students the opportunity to specialize in one of the following concentration areas.Fraud Examination (18 credits)

CRJ 801 Introduction to Fraud Examination
CRJ 802 Methods of Fraud Examination
CRJ 803 Auditing Principles in Fraud Examination
CRJ 804 Professional Accounting Standard in Fraud Examination
CRJ 805 Fraud Examination and the Law
CRJ 806 Ethics in Fraud Examination

Security Administration (15 credits)
CSA 546 Theories of Private Security and Loss Prevention
CSA 571 Private Security Administration
CSA 581 Security of Intellectual Property
CSA 582 Instructing Security Trainers
CSA 583 Security Law
CSA 587 Institutional Security Planning
CSA 593 Investigation Management