For information about our specific graduate programs browse the sections below or choose a link here:

• Professional Master's
• Joint M.A./J.D.
• Traditional Master's
• Doctoral

Additional information can be found in the guides for each program:

• Official Master's Guide
• Official Doctoral Guide

For information about our graduate program in general, click here, or choose a specific topic:

• Admission
• Academic Common Market
• Financial Aid
• International Student Admission
• Delay of Admission
• Minimum Admission Requirements
• Provisional Admission
• Advisement
• Program Planning

Professional Master's

    The University of Maryland's new Professional Masters of Arts in Criminal Justice is a 30 credit degree program designed to train both mid-career and pre-career students for management analysis and research in criminal justice agency settings. The mission of this program is to improve public safety by increasing the capacity of criminal justice personnel to identify and solve problems. The specific objectives of the program are for students to learn the following specific skills: 

• Analyzing agency data to identify high priority crime prevention objectives;
• Reviewing criminological literature to identify possible ways to reduce crime: planning and implementing innovative solutions to crime problems, and
• Evaluating both the implementation and impact of agency efforts to reduce crime.

Students have the choice of specializing in one of three areas: policing, courts, or corrections.

Joint M.A./J.D.

    A joint M.A./J.D. degree is offered in cooperation with the School of Law at the Baltimore campus. The Graduate program in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland College Park, and the University of Maryland School of Law (located in Baltimore) offers a joint program of studies leading to a MA/JD degree.

    Under the terms of this program, a student may earn both degrees in four academic years. Up to nine (9) credit hours received from the Law School are transferable and will be considered as electives towards your MA degree. Supporting documentation, such as letters of recommendations, official transcripts personal statements and test scores are REQUIRED for both schools.

    Candidates must be admitted to both programs separately. Admissions to one program does not automatically guarantee admissions in the other. Grade point averages in each program will be computed separately and students must maintain minimum standards in each school to continue in the program and receive both degrees. If a student's enrollment is terminated in either program, the student may elect to complete work for the degree in which he/she remains enrolled but such completion must be upon the same conditions as required of regular (non-joint program) degree candidates. Student's must submitted an approved course of study by the Graduate Director of UMCP and the Dean of the Law School.

For more information regarding the joint MA/JD program, please contact:

Traditional Master's

The general plan of study for the Traditional M.A. student is as follows:

• CCJS 600 (Criminal Justice), CCJS 610 (Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology) and CCJS 651 (Seminar in Criminology) are required courses that must be passed with a grade of "B" or better.
• CCJS 620 (Fundamentals for Criminological Research) and CCJS 621--The General Linear Model are required courses that must be passed with a grade of "B" or better.
• Three graduate-level (e.g., 600 or above) elective courses.
• A thesis.

Doctoral

The Ph.D. applicant who has already earned an MA/MS degree must have completed two statistics, two research methods, and two theory courses, one of each being at the Master's level. At the discretion of the Graduate Admission Committee of the Department deficiencies in some of the above areas may be made up by non-credit work at the beginning of the program. Beginning with the entering cohort of Fall, 2006, students with a BA/BS degree may choose to apply for entry either into one of the masters programs or directly into the Ph.D. program. Such students admitted directly into the Ph.D. program will complete the requirements of the Traditional Masters program before beginning Ph.D.-level work.

Follow this link for detailed information about the Doctoral Degree Program