Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice

The Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice offers three programs of study at the Master's degree level: the Traditional, the Professional, and the Joint Master's programs. Each results in a Master's degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice. The Traditional program involves a thesis, while the Professional and Joint programs do not.

A maximum of twelve (12) semester hours of graduate-level course credits earned at regionally accredited institutions prior to, or after, matriculation in the Graduate School may be applied toward a Master's degree at the University of Maryland.

All graduate study credits offered as transfer credits must meet the following criteria: (1) they must have received graduate credit at the institution where earned; (2) they must not have been used to meet the requirements for any degree previously earned; (3) they must have been taken within the time limits applicable to degrees awarded by the Graduate School; that is, they must have been taken within the five-year time limit for completing the Master's degree; (4) the department or program to which the student has been admitted at Maryland must certify that the courses are appropriate to the degree program the student is pursuing at Maryland; that is, the course must by approved by the student's advisor and the Department's Chairperson; (5) the student must have earned a "B" or better in the course offered for transfer credit; and, (6) transfer work normally satisfies only the 400-level requirements for the Master's degree and does not apply to the upper-level requirements. The request for transfer of credit, the necessary transcripts, and certification of Department approval must be submitted to the Graduate School at the earliest possible date. The Master's degree cannot be awarded until the Graduate School has the official transcript for the credit to be transferred. If the credit is taken after matriculation, the student must receive prior approval of the credit from the advisor and the Department's Chairperson. The request for transfer is then submitted to the Graduate School (see the Graduate Secretary for this form).

All requirements for the Master's degree must be completed within five (5) years of the entrance date. One extension of up to one year may be granted at the discretion of the Department.

The Graduate School makes the following requirements regarding all Master's degrees. The entire course of study for any Master's degree must constitute a unified, coherent program which is approved by the student's advisor and by the Graduate School. The student must have a minimum of 30 semester hours in courses acceptable for credit toward a graduate degree. Additional courses may be required if the student is inadequately prepared for the required graduate courses. To graduate the student must have an average grade of "B".

The Graduate School states that grades for courses not a part of the program, but taken in graduate status will be computed in the average. Any "D" or "F" grade on the record may be repeated, with the second grade replacing the first. If courses with "D" or "F" grades are not repeated, they are computed in the grade point average as an "F" (zero quality points). However, in the latter case, they are not counted as part of the degree requirements and additional course work must be done. Any incomplete grades that are not removed and replaced with acceptable letter grades will be computed in the same manner. In addition, the Department's policy is that any graduate student who received a grade of "D" or "F" in two different courses will be dismissed for the program.

The residence requirement is one year full-time study (or its equivalent) at the University of Maryland. The student must be registered for at least one credit in the semester he or she plans to graduate.

Contact: crimgrad@deans.umd.edu , for more information.

The Traditional M.A.

The Graduate School requires a minimum of 30 semester hours which must, if the student chooses the traditional program, include six hours of thesis research credits (CCJS 799). No less than one-half of the required course credits for the degree, not including the six hours of thesis research credits, must be at the 600-level or above, or -- to put it more simply -- a minimum of 12 semester hours must be courses numbered 600 or higher.

The student must successfully complete a thesis. Students planning on writing a thesis should not choose a topic or commence working on a thesis until they have chosen a thesis advisor, consulted with the advisor concerning the intended research topic and plan, consulted also with other members of the graduate faculty whom he or she intends to have serve on the Master's Thesis Committee, and have obtained their preliminary approval and permission to proceed.

The thesis must be approved by an examining committee appointed by the Dean of Graduate Studies. When the thesis is completed and ready for oral defense, the advisor files a Certification of Completion of Master's Thesis form with the Graduate School, certifying that the thesis is completed and listing the proposed committee members. The Graduate School Dean then sends the advisor a form approving the committee and listing any incomplete grades. The student's thesis advisor is Chairperson of the committee and the remaining members of the committee are members of the graduate faculty of the University who are familiar with the student's program of study. The examining committee consists of a minimum of three members; at least two of which must be members of the Department's faculty. In most instances the full committee will be selected from the faculty of the Department.

It should be noted that if the research conducted for completion of the thesis requires the use of human subjects, the proposed study must be approved by the Department's and University's Human Subjects Committees well in advance of any data collection. Each student's advisor is aware of the appropriate procedures involved in obtaining approval of these committees.

A final oral defense of the thesis shall be held when the student has complete his or her thesis to the satisfaction of the advisor, when all other requirements for the degree have been completed, and the student has attained at least a "B" average (GPA 3.0) in the course work. The Chairperson of the examining committee selects the time and place for the examination and notifies the other members and the candidate. Members of the committee must be given a minimum of seven school days to read the thesis.

The oral defense is normally an hour but it may be longer. The defense may be attended by Department faculty and graduate students and the committee Chairperson may open the discussion to those present for questions and comments. Upon satisfactory completion of the oral defense, the committee signs the form sent by the Graduate School. It is returned by the Chairperson to the Dean of the Graduate School no later than the appropriate date listed in Important Dates for Graduate Students if the student is to graduate in the semester in which the oral examination is given. The Important Dates information can be obtained either from the Graduate School or from the Department's Graduate Office.

Any student who has selected the thesis option and wants to complete the thesis and graduate in a certain semester should not only consult the deadlines listed in Important Dates but should also consult with his or her thesis advisor before the beginning of the registration period of the semester in which the student intends to graduate in order to make sure all the necessary course work has been completed.

The student should consult the Graduate Student Academic Handbook and Thesis Manual for directions on the preparation and submission of the thesis. This can be purchased at the student book store.

Application for Diploma

The candidate must submit the application for diploma to the Registrar's Office. The student must meet the deadline date specified in Important Dates. The Graduate School will notify the Graduate Office of the Department of those Master's students who have made an application for diploma. The advisor and Chairperson of the Department must sign a form certifying to the Graduate School that the student has completed all program course requirements. The student is responsible for preparing this form, a completed sample of which is attached, in sufficient time to meet the Graduate School's deadline. The student must be registered for at least one credit in the semester he or she plans to graduate.

Contact: crimgrad@deans.umd.edu , for more information.