Online Master of Science in Criminal Justice
Our online Master of Science in Criminal Justice program approaches the study of crime and criminal justice from an interdisciplinary perspective, drawing insights from sociology, criminology, psychology, and law.
Master of Science in Criminal Justice Program Overview
Our MS in Criminal Justice program prepares students to be leaders in the criminal justice field through experience-based learning, best practice approaches and field collaborations. The program is designed for criminal justice professionals seeking to advance their career to the next level. This MS in Criminal Justice program delivers a comprehensive understanding of how conceptual and theoretical frameworks apply to real-world situations in a wide range of criminal justice career paths.
Master of Science in Criminal Justice Program Highlights
High Quality Education
The University of Cincinnati’s online criminal justice master’s program is designed to achieve several core objectives:
- Provide students with the conceptual and research skills needed to undertake advanced analyses of crime and the criminal justice system
- Furnish law enforcement, corrections and court practitioners with knowledge of justice administration, social science perspectives of human behavior, policy analysis and criminal justice theory
- Train those who will become leaders in the criminal justice system by providing the skills needed to upgrade levels of professional practice, improve standards, initiate fresh perspectives and act as agents of change
- Prepare social scientists to pursue careers in university and research settings
- Equip graduates with the knowledge and skills needed to pursue advanced leadership roles in a range of law enforcement and criminal justice disciplines
Flexibility
- 100% online
- Can be completed in just over two years
- Financial aid & scholarship options available
Support from Application through Graduation
At UC, you’ll have a full support team behind you:
Enrollment Services Advisor: Your go-to resource during the application process
Student Success Coordinator: Helping you prepare for classes and stay on track
Access to Resources: Access to university resources that will support you through your program including online learning expectations and resources, health and wellness resources, and academic support
The online Master of Science in Criminal Justice is 30 credit hours and can be completed in 1 year.
The program offers four distinct concentrations so you can pursue a general track or focus your degree in an area of criminal justice that is most relevant to you. Our innovative courses are constantly updated to teach students the immediately relevant information that is most important today.
View the concentration major maps:
| Course | Title/Description | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| CJ7010 | Seminar in Criminal Justice This class is a graduate level introduction to thecriminal justice system. Focusing on three themes;due process vs. crime control, discretion, and thesystem nature of criminal justice, students investigate the structure and operations of the criminal justice system in the United States. The class specifically explores the flow of cases across various decision points from the police, through criminal courts, to corrections. |
3 |
| CJ7020 | Seminar in Criminology This course provides an introduction to and critical analysis of major criminological theories, including theories from the bio-social, life course, strain, control, learning, labelling,rational choice, routine activities, feminist, andcritical theory perspectives. The emphasis is on understanding the logical structure of these theories as well as their respective strengths andweaknesses. Special attention is devoted to the life course and bio-social perspectives. |
3 |
| CJ7098 | Demonstration Project 1 This section is for graduate students not taking the comprehensive examination. Approval must be obtained by a sponsoring faculty member who agreesto supervise the process. |
3 |
| CJ7041 | Basic Research Methods in Criminal Justice This course is designed to provide master's level students with a broad introduction to different methods that researchers, evaluators, and practitioners use to create new knowledge, understand and criticize research, evaluate programs and policies, develop policy, and participate in social, political, criminological, and economic debates and discussions. These "tools" will be a bonus to whatever the student's career goals are because the ability to THINK (what) and SOLVE PROBLEMS (how and why) in a systematic, yet creative, fashion are valuable job market skills, especially given our international economy and global competition. In addition, these tools will also help you to design, execute, and review research or evaluation studies that are required in your respective current or next job (or promotion). |
3 |
| CJ7040 | Applied Statistics in Criminal Justice This course will introduce the statistical techniques used in the social sciences, including criminology and criminal justice, with emphasis placed on interpretation of results and computer applications. The course will include learning thelogic of, and how to calculate, different statistical techniques. |
3 |
| Course | Title/Description | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| CJ7012 | Criminal Justice Policy Analysis This course explores how crime reduction policies influence crime rates in the United States and examines how an analyst can determine policy effectiveness. Students study a variety of policy and social influences on crime in the US and in other countries. A strong emphasis is placed on quantitative assessment of city, state, national, and international data. |
3 |
| CJ7013 | Criminal Justice Management The criminal justice system is a collection of loose-knit agencies. Each agency has a set of goals and operating strategies. Effective management of these agencies is complex. This course introduces students to organizational and management theory with a focus on elements of effective leadership. |
3 |
Directed Electives
Students must complete 9 credit hours from the list of electives.
|
9 |
| Course | Title/Description | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| CJ6030 | Mentoring and Leadership In a variety of professions, you may be be called upon to be a mentor or take on a leadership role. Whether this happens formally or informally, it is important to be equipped with a foundational set of skills, knowledge, and self-awareness needed to be successful in this role, ultimately to help support and ensure the success of others. This course provides an overview of responsibilities of mentors and leaders, helps you identify your own unique leadership and mentoring style, and teaches you strategies for working work with others who may have different work styles. It will also provide you tools to help motivate and inspire others, help others to be more productive and fulfilled, and teach you strategies to handle conflict and underperformance effectively. Mentoring and Professional Development is open to anyone who wishes to gain mentorship and leadership skills that can be applied in the workplace, particularly contexts that employ mentoring models (e.g., academia and research) and/or that use team-oriented strategies for projects and tasks. This course is offered over the course of two full-day trainings. There are no prerequisites to take this course. |
1 |
| CJ6055 | Introduction to Research and Evaluation Introduction to Research and Evaluation is a full semester course that is designed to expose students to the ins and outs of research and evaluation in the behavioral or social sciences. Students will learn about the core intra-and interpersonal skills and strategies to become a successful and productive research mentee and contributing member of a research team. Students will also receive training across a wide variety of technical skills needed for entry level research work. Students will develop a universal skill set that will prepare them for success across a variety of professional settings—not just research. |
3 |
| CJ6056 | Advanced Skills in Research and Evaluation Advanced Skills in Research and Evaluation is a full semester course that is designed to prepare students for working as an advanced research assistant or research professional in the behavioral or social sciences. Students are trained in the basic components of and steps for carrying out a research project or program evaluation and will engage in hands-on application of knowledge and skills across a range of topics including grant writing, requirements and reporting; project budgeting; institutional review board procedures, forms and applications; project design; data security and management; and presenting, report writing, and publishing project findings. Students are required to have completed the Introduction to Research and Evaluation course before they can register for this course. |
3 |
| CJ7055 | Terrorism and Homeland Security This course provides an overview of the various components related to an empirical understanding of terrorism. The course will also review the development of homeland security in America as it relates to terrorism and situate this development within various perspectives. Emphasis in this course will be placed on critical assessment of ideologically-based viewpoints of terrorism and homeland security. Scientific empiricism will guide the student's journey of the variety of topics that will be covered in this course. |
3 |
| CJ7060 | Correctional Theory and Policy This course examines the evolution of correctionaltheory, its impact on policy, and its empirical status. An emphasis is placed on the use of evidence-based knowledge to shape correctional policy and practice. |
3 |
| CJ7070 | Theory and Practice of Crime Prevention This course is designed to provide an exploration of the various approaches to reducing crime as well as the theories that inform those approaches. We will focus most fully on situational approaches to crime prevention, though we will also explore crime prevention through social development, community-based crime prevention. We will also examine how policing intersects with these various approaches to crime prevention. |
3 |
| CJ8080 | Policing in Context Policing takes place in a variety of contexts thatinfluence the decisions of police officers and agencies. Two of these contexts are the organization and the community, both of which influence individual officer behavior and the nature and form of policing within a jurisdiction.The first portion of the course introduces students to the social scientific study of U.S. police organizations by exploring the lierature onorganizational goals and general organization theory. The first portion of the course concludes with an examination of the effect of organizationson officer behavior. The second half of the class examines the relationship between crime occurrences, local police, community residents, and communities. The class concludes with an examination of the roles of citizens as both coproducers of public safety and security and as consumers of police services. |
3 |
| CJ8081 | Seminar in Police Decision-Making This seminar on policing will explore issues that surround police decision-making in American society. Police discretion has been the object of intensive inquiry since it was "discovered" by researchers in the 1950s. What is police discretion, how and why is it exercised, and how is it controlled? What does the research show regarding the factors that predict police officers' decisions and what questions remain unanswered? How does police behavior influence citizens' perceptions of the legitimacy of the police? Students in this course are expected to learn more about a) the theoretical foundations ofparticular propositions about police behavior, b) the extent of empirical support for those propositions, c) the strengths and weaknesses of different methodologies for developing and testingpropositions, and d) the implications of theory and evidence for managerial practice and institutional reform. |
3 |
| CJ9002 | Criminal Justice Agency Practicum This course provides professional development and mentoring for students seeking to pursue academic careers in justice-related agencies. Career options include academics conducting applied research in agencies and individuals serving as researchers employed in these private or public agencies. The goal is to provide students with knowledge of these opportunities, how to secure employment and achieve career success, and the skills needed to be a valued research employee. |
3 |
| HPE7014 | Grant Writing and Resource Development The purpose of this course is to investigate sources of grant funding at the federal, state, and local level. Another primary purpose is examine grant announcements, RFPs (Request for Proposals), and example grant proposals. Students will also practice developing a grant proposal. |
3 |
| HPE7015 | Community Organization and Program Management The purpose of this course is to enable students to 1) utilize effective leadership and management skills to organize communities and to plan, implement, evaluate and manage health promotion and education programs within communities; 2) empower individuals within a community to take action; and 3) develop and maintain coalitions when needed. |
3 |
| Course | Title/Description | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| CJ7060 | Correctional Theory and Policy This course examines the evolution of correctionaltheory, its impact on policy, and its empirical status. An emphasis is placed on the use of evidence-based knowledge to shape correctional policy and practice. |
3 |
| CJ8060 | Seminar in Correctional Rehabilitation This course examines the theories, techniques, andpolicies of correctional treatment, with a focus on behavioral and cognitive behavioral approaches and various models of family therapy. Interventions for special populations (women offenders, substance abusers, sex offenders and the mentally ill) are also discussed. The course also examines varied models of correctional assessment, including classification, and risk andneeds assessments. |
3 |
| CJ8062 | Seminar in Community Corrections This course is designed to provide an in depth review of various criminal justice programs found under the term "community corrections." Emphasis will be placed on developing theoretical models todistinguish what constitutes community corrections, and how various program types have been evaluated for effectiveness. Included will bea review of the critical elements of effective community based programs; design, offender assessment, supervision strategies, progamming andinterventions, and program fidelity. |
3 |
Faculty Approved Elective Student may select 6 additional credit hours of criminal justice electives with faculty approval. Please note: A maximum number of 3 one credit hour courses may be applied to degree requirements.
|
6 |
| Course | Title/Description | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| CJ8013 | Seminar in Juvenile Justice This seminar course covers the juvenile justice system from arrest to corrections. Related issues on diversion and programmatic treatment will be covered. Contemporary issues in juvenile justice are considered. |
3 |
| CJ8028 | Biosocial Factors in Serial Offending This course provides an introduction to the biosocial perspective on criminal offending. The primary goal is to introduce students to the current state of knowledge on biosocial factors that affect human behavior, especially serious, repeated criminal behavior. The course will explain the structures of the brain and their functioning. The literature on behavioral and molecular genetics as it relates to criminal offending and antisocial behavior will be reviewed. The characteristics of psychopathology and the biological and social factors that lead tothis condition will be explored in depth. |
3 |
| CJ8072 | Seminar in White-Collar Crime This course provides a detailed examination of white-collar crime. The primary goals are to provide an introduction to the field of white-collar crime and identify the main research issues and directions that currently dominate thisarea of study. The course reviews the history of the field and its relevance to mainstream criminology. It identifies the distinguishing charcteristics of white-collar crime. Selected forms of white-collar crime are investigated. Methods of controlling white-collar crime, including civil, administrative, criminal justice and situational crime prevention techniques, are explored. |
3 |
Faculty Approved Elective Student may select 6 additional credit hours of criminal justice electives with faculty approval. Please note: A maximum number of 3 one credit hour courses may be applied to degree requirements.
|
6 |
| Course | Title/Description | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| CJ7050 | Introduction to Crime Mapping This course is designed to teach the elementary skills and techniques of Geographic Information Science (GIS), with a focus on crime analysis, using ESRI ArcGIS 10.1, or similar software package. ArcGIS is a software platform that is used to apply geography to solving problems and making decisions. In addition to GIS techniques, we will be covering basic data preparation procedures, as well as a brief survey of various types of crime data and how to acquire such data. Topics to be covered will include querying, editing, designing, analyzing, and building map systems utilizing crime data. Analysis techniques will cover both attribute table and spatial data operations such as table relates and joins, spatial aggregation, and buffer analysis. |
3 |
| CJ7051 | Advanced Crime Analysis This course teaches students about the practice of crime analysis in law enforcement. Students will learn the terminology, principles, and techniques crime analysts use in everyday practice. A major component of this class is learning how to perform advanced analytical techniques employed by crime analysts using software programs such as ArcGIS 10.3, Excel 2013, and CrimeStat IV, or other versions as appropriate. |
3 |
| CJ7070 | Theory and Practice of Crime Prevention This course is designed to provide an exploration of the various approaches to reducing crime as well as the theories that inform those approaches. We will focus most fully on situational approaches to crime prevention, though we will also explore crime prevention through social development, community-based crime prevention. We will also examine how policing intersects with these various approaches to crime prevention. |
3 |
Faculty Approved Elective Student may select 6 additional credit hours of criminal justice electives with faculty approval. Please note: A maximum number of 3 one credit hour courses may be applied to degree requirements. |
6 |
Prerequisites
- Bachelor’s Degree (in any field of study) from a regionally accredited university
- At least two professional or academic letters of recommendation from individuals you have known for a minimum of one year – at least one letter must be from a current or past supervisor
- A personal goal statement
- Current resume or CV
- An overall 3.0 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) or higher from all previous undergraduate coursework
– OR –
- An overall 2.75 GPA will be considered for acceptance with at least one of the following:
- Five years of criminal justice work experience (does not include social work)
- Nine hours of graduate coursework with a 3.0 GPA or higher with a regionally accredited college or university
- A minimum combined score of 300 on the verbal and quantitative parts of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) taken within five years of your application*
- *The GRE is not needed with a 3.0 GPA or higher
Automatic admission into the MSCJ-DL program for undergraduate students who graduate from UC
- Cumulative GPA of 3.50 or above (for courses completed at UC)
- Earned 4-year undergraduate degree from UC
- Graduated from UC within the past 5 years (15 academic semesters)
- Any major applies (not limited to Criminal Justice majors)
- Must still complete the application and pay the application fee, but if the student meets the above requirements they will be automatically admitted to the program
- The Fast Track application process removes the Statement of Purpose/Personal Statement, CV/Resume, and Letter of Recommendation requirements from the application for qualified applicants; submission of transcripts as part of the application process is still required
- Letter of recommendation will be waived as a requirement (a generic letter signed by the MS DL Director or the Associate Director will be provided to meet Graduate School requirements)
Complete the online application and submit the application fee.
Standard Application Fees:
- $65.00 for domestic applicants to most degree programs
- $70.00 for international applicants to most degree programs
- $20.00 for domestic applicants to Graduate Certificates
- $25.00 for international applicants to Graduate Certificates
- Application fees are waived for Summer 2026 applications submitted by March 1st, 2026
- Application fees are waived for Fall 2026 applications submitted by July 1st, 2026
- Fee waivers are automatically applied for applicants who:
- are currently serving in the US armed forces
- are veterans of the US armed forces
All applicants are required to upload unofficial transcripts during the application process, showing all undergraduate and graduate course work completed, including degrees granted and dates of conferral.
Official transcripts are not required until the student has received and accepted an offer of admission from the university. Once the offer has been confirmed, the student must submit official transcripts.
Students who have received degrees from the University of Cincinnati do not need to submit official paper copies of their UC transcripts.
Transcripts can be submitted electronically or by mail. To see if your transcript(s) can be ordered electronically, visit the links below and search for your previous school(s).
- Parchment
- Please select “University of Cincinnati – Main Campus” as the recipient of your transcript.
- National Student Clearinghouse
- Please have your transcript sent directly to admissions@uc.edu.
If you do not see your past school(s) listed on either site, please contact the school(s) directly. Then, mail your sealed, unopened, official transcripts to:
Please mail sealed, unopened, official transcripts to:
University of Cincinnati
Office of Admissions
PO Box 210091
Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0091
Transfer Credits
Have you already completed some graduate study? You may transfer up to 9 hours of graduate credit in criminal justice or criminology courses from a regionally accredited college or university. These credits must have been earned within the last five years prior to entrance into the program and can be used only for general electives. Talk to your Enrollment Services Advisor to discuss the petition process.
At least two professional or academic letters of recommendation from individuals you have known for a minimum of one year, presented on corresponding professional letterhead. At least one letter must be from a current or past supervisor.
The personal goal statement should explain how the Master of Science in Criminal Justice will further your career goals in less than 500 words. You may also provide any other information about your ability to succeed in our program that you’d like us to consider.
Must provide a current resume or CV.
International applicants must have a minimum TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score of 550 (paper version) or 190 (electronic version) to be considered for acceptance.
| Term | Application Deadline | Classes Start |
|---|---|---|
Spring 2026 | B Term* Summer 2026 | A Term Summer 2026 | B Term* Fall 2026 | A Term Fall 2026 | B Term* |
February 16, 2026 April 28, 2026 June 11, 2026 August 1, 2026 September 28, 2026 |
March 2, 2026 May 11, 2026 June 25, 2026 August 24, 2026 October 13, 2026 |
The University of Cincinnati's online course fees differ depending on the program. On average, students will accrue fewer fees than students attending on-campus classes.
The one fee applied across all UC Online programs is the distance learning fee. Students living outside the state of Ohio must also pay an additional “non-resident” fee to enroll in courses at UC Online. This fee is lower than the out-of-state fee for traditional on-campus programs.
To view tuition information and program costs, visit the Online Program Fees page.
Fraternal Order of Police members and their dependents are eligible for an exclusive scholarship for the online Master of Science in Criminal Justice program. Contact an Enrollment Services Advisor to find out more.
The University of Cincinnati’s online Master’s in Criminal Justice program is ranked 12th best in the country by U.S. News & World Report (2024). OnlineMaster’sDegrees.org (OMD) also ranks this program as the 14th best, citing overall quality, affordability, and commitment to student success. Between 2018 to 2022 the program had a 93% first term retention rate, meaning that 93% of new students returned for their second semester.
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