Criminal Justice Administration, M.C.J.

Admission Requirements

The home institution is the institution to which the student applies and is admitted. Each institution will offer the entire core curriculum of the Master of Criminal Justice degree. The MCJ degree will be awarded at the student’s home institution, and graduates will be considered alumni of that institution.

Normally, applicants for admission are expected to present satisfactory scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or a score of 370 or better on the Miller Analogies Test.

Applicants are expected to have an undergraduate degree in criminal justice, or to have completed a minimum of 18 credits at the undergraduate level in criminal justice or an approved equivalent.

Application Procedures

All application materials are to be submitted to the College of Graduate Studies.

To be considered for Fall admission, an applicant’s materials must be received by June 15; for Spring admission, November 1; and for Summer admission, April 15.

Applicant must

1. submit an application with the appropriate application fee (online at www.mtsu.edu/graduate/apply.php);
2. submit official scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or Miller Analogies Test (MAT);
3. submit official transcripts of previous college work.

Degree Requirements

The Master of Criminal Justice degree requires completion of either a thesis (33 hours) or non-thesis (36 hours) program of study with no more than 30 percent of the total degree hours dually listed as undergraduate/graduate hours.

Curriculum: Criminal Justice

 Candidate must complete 33 (thesis option) or 36 (non-thesis option) hours in the following curriculum:

Program Notes

A graduate student may not enroll in more than 12 total hours in any given semester. This limitation applies to Criminal Justice graduate students who may be simultaneously enrolled at both TSU and MTSU. Any student exceeding the hours-per-semester limit will be dropped from a course or courses to the twelve-hour level. A student may, on rare occasions, be given permission for an overload, but the proper overload form must be executed before courses begin and under no circumstances will the overload exceed three hours or a total of 15 hours.

Candidate must

1. file a degree plan in the College of Graduate Studies after having completed 10 semester hours credit and before having completed 16 semester hours credit;
2. file a Notice of Intent to Graduate form in the College of Graduate Studies within the first two weeks of the term in which candidate intends to graduate.