Contact Information
Criminal Justice at NMU
The Criminal Justice Department offers an online master of science degree in criminal justice designed to appeal to pre- and mid-career students who desire advanced study in criminal justice. The degree may be obtained by taking classes which are all offered online. It prepares graduate students to become highly capable criminal justice agency administrators, planners and academicians. The program also helps prepare students planning to pursue doctoral degrees. Students will be educated in the classical and contemporary theories, concepts, and practices relevant to the needs of the practitioner and the academician. In addition to the core, the program requires students to select a specialized concentration of study and complete a thesis.
The department also offers an entirely online graduate certificate in criminal justice management. The certificate includes coursework geared at the operational level of criminal justice agencies. All courses included in the graduate certificate are required in the criminal justice master of science degree, so students who received the 16-credit graduate certificate can complete the full master’s degree with 20 additional credits.
Admission Requirements
Applicants to the certificate program will be admitted as non-degree students in the College of Graduate Studies.
Applicants to the MS program are required to comply with the regular admission requirements of the College of Graduate Studies. In addition:
- A separate Application for Admission to the Master of Science in Criminal Justice form must be completed.
- Applicants must have a 3.0 GPA based on 12 or more semester hours of relevant graduate credit.
- Applicants must include two letters of recommendation, and two, three-page essays with the application. Details of what is needed in these letters and essays are included on the Application for Admission to the Master of Science in Criminal Justice form.
- A bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, criminology, justice studies, law enforcement or a very closely related field is strongly preferred. However, students with bachelor’s degrees in other fields are eligible for admittance to the program pursuant to the review of their credentials by the graduate program coordinator/department head. For these students, the graduate program coordinator/department head will assess the strengths and weaknesses of the applicants’ backgrounds and require that the applicants take the necessary courses to compensate for any deficiencies.
Advising
Applicants are expected to have a solid background in criminal justice, including relevant foundation course work at the undergraduate level. The student’s graduate acceptance committee may recommend appropriate courses to strengthen the background of the student. The committee may require the student to complete whatever course work is missing with a grade of "C" or better; they may recommend that courses be taken in other relevant areas to substitute for the deficiencies; or they may develop other appropriate options.
Note: In consultation with their adviser, students must complete a Plan of Study before completion of 12 credit hours of course work.
Programs
Bulletin Year: Fall 2007 - Summer 2009 Graduate Bulletin | View the current NMU Catalog.