Best Masters in Criminal Justice Programs (2027)

Students complete 12 courses totaling 36 credits: a core of Theories of Justice, Psychological Concepts for Justice Professionals, Effective Communication and Perspective Taking, Cyberterrorism, Criminal Justice Research Methods and High Technology Crime, then either a concentration in leadership, cyberthreat management and response, or intelligence, or six electives chosen with the graduate program director's approval. Classes are held entirely online in seven-week modules, mixing asynchronous elements with live Zoom meetings that are recorded for students with schedule conflicts, and Salve lists an average time to complete of 18-24 months.

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis with fall, spring and summer start dates, there is no fee to apply, and applicants send official transcripts, a personal statement and a resume. Students may petition to transfer in up to 40% of the credits a master's program requires when the catalog's conditions are met, among them a grade of B or better in each course and credits earned within eight years, and transfer credits must be authorized by the appropriate graduate program director. Transfer credit may also be considered for certain specific non-degree academic programs of military or professional schools at the graduate level, provided an agency approved by the American Council on Education recognizes them. Salve also offers graduate certificates in cyberthreat management and response, intelligence and analysis tradecraft, and leadership in justice, each four courses and stackable toward the master's degree.

The degree is 30 credit hours of sequential coursework taken online with a cohort of peers. The curriculum covers criminal justice resources, research methods in the field, legal and legislative issues, correctional design and applied ethics in criminal justice, and closes with a capstone course in which students reflect on their learning and assemble a professional portfolio.

Applicants need a bachelor's degree or higher from a regionally accredited institution with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0, and the university accepts up to 50% of program credits in transfer. The catalog describes students arriving with experience in law enforcement, courts, corrections, the military and social service, and the program's 30 credit hours can be completed in just over two years.

The Master of Arts in Criminal Justice requires at least 33 credits, starting with a 15-credit core: Criminological Theory: Foundations, Administration of Justice System, Descriptive & Inferential Statistics, Research Design, and either Law and Public Policy or Managing Criminal Justice Organizations. Students may write a six-credit master's thesis or take two more classes instead, and fill the rest of the degree with electives; the online program lists classes in areas such as leadership, crisis and emergency management, criminal profiling, law and public policy, crime analysis, forensic psychology, sex crimes, terrorism and victimology. UMass Lowell lists online and hybrid delivery options and says the degree can be completed on campus or online, part-time or full-time, though international students must combine online and on-campus courses.

Admission requires a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution with at least a 2.800 GPA; the GRE is not required, letters of recommendation are optional, and the online program accepts applications year-round. Applicants with a GPA between 2.500 and 2.800 may take limited courses as non-degree students and then apply after earning a B or better in two of them, and up to 6 graduate credits from another accredited university may transfer in with departmental approval. UMass Lowell says the master's meets the academic requirements of the Quinn Bill, the Massachusetts police career incentive pay program, for full-time officers in participating cities and towns, and its outstanding criminal justice undergraduates can enroll in a B.S./M.A. program that in many cases completes both degrees in five years. Students may also complete a graduate certificate in Domestic Violence Prevention, Forensic Criminology, Leadership & Policy Development, Security Studies or Victim Studies with courses that count toward the master's.

The degree totals 36 credit hours: a program core of Leadership in Public Safety Administration, Human Resource Management and Development, Fiscal Management and Public Finance, and Applied Research in Public Safety Administration; required courses in Organizational and Management Realities, Strategic Planning and Policy Development, and Legal Issues and Trends in Public Safety Administration; five program electives from a list that includes Felony Task Force Management, Internal Affairs, Critical Incident Management and Media Relations; and a comprehensive examination as the exit requirement. Students in the Command College attend twelve intensive cohort sessions of classes over a two-year period, and the program page lists the delivery format as on campus.

Admission is limited to applicants who currently hold a supervisory or managerial position in a public safety agency, with significant responsibility for managing personnel, interpreting policies or supervising other crucial agency functions. Columbus State says completing each Command College module provides POST training along with 3 semester hours of academic credit, and its program page gives a completion time of 2 years full time.

The 30-semester-hour degree starts with 12 hours of core courses (Criminology, Criminal Justice Ethics, Police Administration, and Research Design and Methods), then a 15-hour concentration: General, Business Administration, or Emergency Management and Disaster Management. Students finish with one of three final requirements: a comprehensive examination built on four shorter papers, a theory-to-practice capstone with two long-form research papers, or a master's project capstone seminar on a creative project the student proposes. The curriculum consists entirely of online courses that begin monthly and run 8 to 16 weeks.

Applicants need a bachelor's degree or higher, and up to 15 transfer credits may apply. The general concentration lets students pick five courses from several disciplines, with options such as Forensic Accounting, Criminal Profiling, Emergency and Disaster Planning and Management, and Criminal Intelligence Analysis.

The program requires 36 hours of graduate credit: 15 hours of core courses (CCJ 5606 Survey Criminological Theories, CCJ 5285 Survey of Criminal Justice Theory and Research, CCJ 5078 Computer Applications in Criminal Justice, CCJ 5705 Research Methods in Criminology I and CCJ 5706 Applied Statistics in Criminology I) and 21 elective credits, of which 12 should come from the College and up to 9 may come from approved courses in other disciplines. Elective examples include Criminal Law, Procedures and Individual Rights, Penology, Police and Society, and Victimology. Students may take 36 hours of coursework only, or 30 credit hours plus a 6-credit area paper or graduate internship, or 30 hours plus 6 hours of thesis credit, and a grade of C or higher is required in all core courses. FSU says the degree can be earned completely online, without ever having to visit campus.

Admission requires a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, a 300- to 500-word statement and a current resume; the GRE is not required, and FSU encourages applicants from majors as diverse as biology, computer science and economics, with no criminology coursework prerequisites. The degree awarded is a master's in Criminology with a major in Criminal Justice Studies: FSU's handbook says the actual degree is the same as the campus program's (whose major is criminology) and the diploma has the same language as the campus programs. Up to 6 credit hours of graduate transfer credit may apply, and FSU says a full-time student can complete the degree within 2 years and part-time students within 3 to 5 years.

The 30-credit-hour program is delivered online through ASU Online as 11 classes of 7.5 weeks each. The curriculum covers theory and research on the U.S. justice system, with courses in strategic planning, policy evaluation and data analysis, and electives in areas such as corrections, homeland security, juvenile justice and policing.

ASU says applicants need a bachelor's or master's degree in criminology, criminal justice or a closely related field from a regionally accredited institution, with at least a 3.00 cumulative GPA in the last 60 hours of the bachelor's program or in an applicable master's program. The application includes official transcripts, two letters of recommendation and a written statement, and GRE scores are not required. ASU says its diplomas and transcripts do not say whether a degree was earned online or in person.

The Criminal Justice MA requires 36 credits: five required core courses, three courses in a specialization and four elective courses, plus a qualifying exam. The core is Issues in Criminal Justice I: Theories and Courts, Issues in Criminal Justice II: Policing and Corrections, Research Design and Methods, Statistical Software in Criminal Justice, and Policy Analysis in Criminal Justice, and students must pass the qualifying exam before the final core course. Specializations are Criminology and Deviance, Criminal Law and Procedure, Police Administration, Corrections Administration and Terrorism Studies, and on-campus students who meet certain conditions may complete the degree in 30 credits plus a thesis. John Jay says the program is available on campus or online; the online version uses 8-week sessions with no scheduled meeting times.

Admission requires a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university, an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher (or contingency requirements the program sets case by case), and one undergraduate statistics course with a grade of B or higher, which admitted students may complete in their first year. John Jay designs the program for people seeking a credential for entry into criminal justice professions, those already employed in the criminal justice system who want to further their careers, and those who want a master's before a doctoral program. The college also offers an International Crime and Justice MA, a separate 36-credit degree offered fully on campus and fully online, whose required courses include International Criminal Law and Comparative Criminal Justice Systems.

The M.S. covers the administration of justice organizations, criminal justice program evaluation, human resource management in criminal justice, and leadership, ethics and policing, with room for a large number of criminal justice electives. Online students can take a General track or a specialization in Corrections Management, Cybercrime Investigation, Forensic Psychology, Homeland Security, Law Enforcement Leadership, Legal Studies, Public Administration or Restorative Justice. The residential version in Lynchburg, Virginia offers face-to-face classes and an optional supervised thesis.

Applicants need a bachelor's degree, and the residential program asks for at least a 3.0 GPA for admission in good standing. Transfer credit can cover up to 50% of the degree. The program is aimed at criminal justice professionals seeking to advance and at people moving into the field from another career, and Liberty integrates biblical principles into each course.

The 33-credit-hour degree runs under two plans, thesis and non-thesis, and all students complete the core: Theories of Crime, Criminal Justice Process & Administration, Criminal Law & the Judicial System, Advanced Research Methods in Criminal Justice, and Criminal Justice Statistical Analysis. The curriculum emphasizes applied theory and research rooted in social justice and builds advanced knowledge of criminological theory, data analysis, and criminal justice policy and practice. All work is online and asynchronous, and students can finish in as few as 16 months with full-time and summer enrollment.

Applicants need a bachelor's degree in criminal justice or a cognate field with a final GPA of at least 2.75, a completed course in basic statistics, two professional or academic references and a statement of purpose of about 500 to 1,000 words; applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, and the program does not support students in F or J status. Salem State says its criminal justice program holds Quinn Bill certification from the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education under the Police Career Incentive Pay Program (PCIPP), and criminal justice majors who meet the department's eligibility criteria can apply to an accelerated 4+1 program that leads to both the bachelor of science and the master of science in five years.