Accelerated Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice

Undergraduate students that would like to qualify for the Accelerated Master's Degree Program must meet the following requirements:

• Criminal Justice major
• Completed CJ 322: Criminal Justice Communications or WRIT 250: Advanced Composition (or equivalent writing intensive course) and achieved a “B” or above before applying
• 3.0 minimum GPA
• 90 completed credit hours as an undergraduate

Number of credit hours a student can earn towards the graduate degree while completing their undergraduate studies:

• 12 credit hours

Courses undergraduate students in the Accelerated Master's Degree Program can take to earn credit towards the graduate degree:

• CRJU 6000: Criminal Justice Administration
• CRJU 6010: Criminal Justice Statistics
• CRJU 6020: Criminal Justice Research Methods
• CRJU 6240: Theories of Criminal Behavior
• CRJU 6200: Criminal Justice in American Society: Policy & Practice
• CRJU 6210: Seminar in Law Enforcement
• CRJU 6220: Seminar in Courts and Sentencing
• CRJU 6230: Seminar in Corrections
• CRJU 6410: Transnational Crime
• CRJU 6430: Legal Issues in Criminal Justice

Remember: For students who participated in the accelerated program prior to fall of 2026, 500-level courses for graduate credit required the student to reserve the course for graduate credit.  A student who did not do so will be unable to use the 500-level course for the graduate degree and it will be considered the same as a course between 5000 and 5499 in the new course-numbering system. 

Students enrolled for the graduate credit in a 5500- to 5999-level course must complete the graduate work.  Should they decide they do not wish to do so, they need to work with the instructor, their dean's office, and the Registrar to change their enrollment to the appropriate undergraduate course number.  Otherwise, they will be graded based on the criteria for the graduate course number.