Criminal Justice Administration, M.C.J.

Lance H. Selva, Program Director
(615) 898-2630
Lance.Selva@mtsu.edu

The Department of Criminal Justice Administration offers a Master of Criminal Justice (M.C.J.) degree in cooperation with Tennessee State University. A minor in Criminal Justice Administration at the graduate level is also offered at MTSU.

Please see undergraduate catalog for information regarding undergraduate programs.

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

submit an application with the appropriate application fee (online at www.mtsu.edu/graduate/apply.php);
submit official scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or Miller Analogies Test (MAT);
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:

Core Courses (18 hours)

CJA 6000 - Criminal Justice Administration 3 credit hours
CJA 6010 - Seminar in Law Enforcement 3 credit hours
CJA 6020 - Judicial Seminar 3 credit hours
CJA 6030 - Contemporary Corrections 3 credit hours
CJA 6900 - Research in the Criminal Justice Process 3 credit hours
Select one of the following:
CJA 6640 - Thesis Research 1 to 6 credit hours (3 credit hours) OR
CJA 6250 - Criminal Justice Internship 3 credit hours
NOTE: Thesis-track students will be required to complete and successfully defend a research-based thesis. Non-thesis track students will be required to complete and successfully pass a written comprehensive exam in the same semester as the internship course is taken.

Electives (15-18 Hours)

15-18 hours selected in consultation with advisor (thesis-track-15 hours/non-thesis-track-18 hours)

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

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;
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.