Criminal Justice and Criminology, MS

What you will study

Take evidence-based graduate courses to build up your knowledge of the criminal justice and criminology discipline. You’ll learn from faculty experts who anchor their lessons with their own extensive professional experience to give you real-world perspectives alongside future-focused academic theory. By the time you graduate with your master’s degree, you’ll have a firm grasp of the core concepts and skills needed for advancement in criminal justice careers, including how to:

• Articulate national and global issues impacting the criminal justice system and modern social issues.
• Analyze and construct policies relevant to today’s criminal justice agencies and programs.
• Identify research based best practices and apply findings to problems in the criminal justice system.
• Determine the appropriate forms of communication based on the academic or criminal justice setting, such as presenting crime statistics, speaking about your research or even delivering the results of a staff satisfaction survey.

The criminal justice and criminology program offers two areas to ensure you are getting the skills and knowledge you need to reach your goals.

Area 1: Theoretical Criminal Justice and Criminology is a criminal justice focused curriculum that includes criminological theory, quantitative analysis, and an applied research component. This area is ideal for those interested in a career in a research organization or continued education at the Ph.D. level. In area 1, you can work with a faculty mentor to complete a thesis in a topic of interest, or fulfill the non-thesis track by taking the Competencies in Criminal Justice course. With your electives, you can tailor your degree to focus on courses that interest you, such as The Juvenile Justice System, Race, Class, and Crime, or Miscarriages of Justice.

Area 2: Criminal Justice Administration and Leadership is an interdisciplinary curriculum that includes ethical leadership, budgeting, and public administration, and a practical grant-writing capstone course. This area is ideal for working adults in the field who are seeking promotion into higher administrative ranks. In area 2, you can focus on the topics that will help you lead your agency. This track offers a set rotation of courses so you can finish in 18 months.

 

 

Unique learning opportunities in the Criminal Justice and Criminology master’s program

As a graduate student in UCM’s Criminology and Criminal Justice MS program, you’ll have exciting opportunities outside the classroom to apply the course material to real-life situations. Because of this, you and your fellow graduate students will be prepared to handle any challenge that you may later experience in the field throughout your career. As you work toward your Master of Science in Criminal Justice and Criminology, these experiential learning activities also help you develop stronger relationships with faculty. They get to know you and your strengths, which can help them promote your skills and abilities later in letters of recommendation when you’re applying for criminal justice jobs or doctoral degree programs. Some of the ways you can build these professional relationships and learn by doing include:

• Research opportunities: Students in Area 1 will partner with faculty members on their research projects by helping them with survey deployment and data analysis. You can also work with a faculty mentor on your thesis in an area of criminal justice administration or other research area. Ten of our faculty’s recent peer-reviewed publications were co-authored with graduate students in the Criminology and Criminal Justice master’s program. 
  
  
• Study abroad: Get a well-rounded, worldly understanding of how criminal justice systems function around the globe. Each year, faculty members lead a 10–14 day immersion trip to international locations such as South Korea, Belize, Italy and more. You’ll not only learn about other cultures and customs but also how they impact global criminal justice issues and processes.
  
  
• Graduate research assistantships: Help faculty members with their research by identifying scholarly articles on a topic and assisting with data collection. You’ll also perform faculty-supervised research of your own, network with other professionals and participate in conferences and academic trips — all while getting help paying for your master’s degree in Criminal Justice and Criminology.
  
  
• Technology and software: Work with SPSS statistical software to learn how you can use data in criminal justice jobs. With industry-leading software, you’ll practice and apply your knowledge and skills of the criminal justice system while analyzing, interpreting and presenting data.

 

What can you do with a master’s degree in Criminal Justice and Criminology?

A Criminal Justice and Criminology master’s degree can create more career opportunities and help you stand out in today’s competitive job market. Whether you’re currently a boots-on-the-ground police officer or a loss prevention specialist, the practical skills and actionable research you’ll learn in our Criminal Justice and Criminology MS program will give you the confidence and marketable abilities to move up in your current job or pursue a new criminal justice career. You can also rely on our faculty members’ connections with leaders in the field to help you find job opportunities as you pursue your career options.

Graduates of our Criminal Justice and Criminology master’s program have earned job promotions or built their careers in criminal justice and criminology at government agencies and private organizations such as:

• Department of Homeland Security
• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
• Guarded Exchange
• Missouri Department of Corrections
• Missouri Department of Mental Health
• U.S. Secret Service

You can also find further academic success after earning your master’s degree. Graduates have gone on to study at Oklahoma State University, Sam Houston State University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha to earn doctoral degrees and teach tomorrow’s public servants in the criminal justice system.

Criminal Justice and Criminology master’s degree jobs and opportunities

After you earn your master’s degree in Criminal Justice and Criminology, you’ll be part of an exciting field that’s full of advancement and career growth prospects focused on protecting society and improving public welfare. Use the interactive tool below to explore job opportunities available in criminal justice and criminology.

 

 

Financial assistance options for your master’s degree in Criminal Justice and Criminology

UCM’s Criminal Justice and Criminology master’s program costs less than many other similar graduate school programs in Kansas City, Missouri and the country. This is one reason the University of Central Missouri consistently ranks among the best Criminal Justice master’s degrees for value and affordability. 

What’s more, we make it easy for you to find ways to pay for graduate school. For example, the UCM Scholarship Finder allows you to fill out one application that gets automatically submitted for consideration in all UCM Alumni Foundation scholarships for which you qualify. 

Some scholarships are even available exclusively to students in UCM’s Criminal Justice and Criminology master’s degree program. These include:

• Bill P. Colvin Criminal Justice Scholarship
• Allen Sapp Criminal Justice Graduate Student Scholarship

Chart your path with the Schedule of Courses.  This link shows required as well as elective options, so you'll know when classes are offered.