Program Description

The graduate program in Criminal Justice focuses on theoretical and applied issues in law enforcement, corrections, administration, and public law. Its goal is to further critical thinking about significant issues in crime and criminal justice. Judges, lawyers, managers, and criminal justice researchers supplement the faculty, bringing many practical considerations to the study of the discipline.

Program Objectives

The primary purpose of this Master’s Degree program is to further develop the following:

• Theoretical thinking- the ability to interpret problems and solutions using comprehensive theoretical knowledge
• Productive thinking-analysis and application of management and administrative techniques related to criminal justice
• Analytical thinking-the ability to critically thing in terms of research and evaluation.
• Practical thinking- to consider what should be done and to synthesize ideas to generate different solutions to criminal justice issues.
• Comprehension- the ability to understand and evaluate the interrelationship of research, ideas, and theories presented in throughout their coursework and to apply their knowledge to unique situations and settings.

Graduate students are required to complete 33 graduate credit hours and a comprehensive examination, or 30 credits and a capstone, or 27 graduate credit hours and a six-hour thesis. Some students may choose to satisfy the requirement for a culminating experience by completing the Addiction Studies Concentration, described below. For all three tracks, there are four required courses: Criminological Theory I , Research Methods , Administrative Theory of Criminal Justice , and Statistics . Each student is assigned an advisor who will assist in selecting courses and, if undertaking a thesis, a thesis advisor. Thesis advisors are members of the graduate faculty.

Admissions Requirements

In order to be considered for admission to the program, a complete application must be presented for review, including:

1. Bachelor’s degree with a major or minor in any of the social sciences with a 2.7 GPA or a 3.0 for the last two years of undergraduate studies, class ranking will also be considered;
2. Three professional or academic letters of reference;
3. An official GRE with a combined score of 950 on two sections or a MAT score of 45 or better; For WSU students with a GPA of 3.3 or higher this requirement is waived.
4. A narrative statement about your professional goals, academic experience, factors which support your future endeavors.

BS/MS option for high achieving students

Students must meet all three criteria listed below:

1. Westfield State University students with a GPA of 3.3 entering into their final semester or after completing their undergraduate degree would be considered for the program.
2. Students who are entering into their final semester at Westfield State University may be eligible to take two courses from graduate credit, assuming the 120 credits needed to complete their BS will be fulfilled independently of the MS coursework.
3. All students will be required to complete the entire graduate application packet, WITH THE EXCEPTION of the standardized test requirement.

Program Requirements