Criminal Justice, MS

The Master of Science in Criminal Justice provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully compete in a variety of professional positions in criminal justice or in closely related fields and prepares students for doctoral programs as well.

Learning Outcomes

Admission Requirements

A minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 based upon four years of course work
GRE scores are optional. Not submitting a GRE score cannot be used to negatively affect an applicant’s chances of acceptance.
Three appropriate letters of recommendation, with preference given to academic letters of reference
Official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate course work
Statement of Purpose – a 750-word statement of purpose that describes the experiences that have influenced your decision to study or work within the discipline of criminal justice or criminology. Also, include academic topics of interest, your commitment to social justice and how you see these issues reflected in the areas of criminal justice.

Bridgewater State University offers students enrolled in the BS in Criminal Justice program the opportunity for early acceptance into the MS program. Click here for more information about the early acceptance program.

For more information, contact the program coordinator.

Early Admissions Program Requirements

The Early Admissions Program is for academically advanced juniors and seniors majoring in criminal justice at Bridgewater State University who wish to take up to two graduate courses for undergraduate credit, and thereby accelerate the completion of their MS in Criminal Justice. The Bachelor of Science/Master of Science in Criminal Justice provides academically advanced students an opportunity to challenge themselves by beginning graduate work while finishing the BS degree. It is possible, through this program, for exceptional students to complete both degrees in five years. Additional benefits include a waiver of the application fee and reduced tuition costs (equivalent to saving six to nine credits at the graduate rate). Students interested in this opportunity should contact the DGCE Graduate Criminal Justice Coordinator early in their junior year.

If accepted, students will be granted special status to enroll in two graduate criminal justice courses for undergraduate credit. One of those courses will be CRJU 500 - Foundations of Scholarship and the other will be determined with advising from the DGCE Graduate Criminal Justice Coordinator. Tuition for these courses will be at the undergraduate rate.

Applicants must be criminal justice majors at Bridgewater State who have a 3.3 minimum overall GPA
Applicants may apply anytime after completing 75 credit hours and successful completion of CRJU 320 - Research Methods in Criminal Justice , CRJU 330 - Analyzing Criminal Justice Data and CRJU 406 - Ethics and the Criminal Justice System
Students may begin graduate course work after completing CRJU 410 - Applied Theory and Crime Policy
There will be no additional charge for taking a graduate course in the evening
Once the student has competed their BS, the graduate courses that they have completed (with a minimum grade of “B”) will be applied to their MS course requirements, reducing post grad course work

The following are required to be accepted into the Early Admissions program:

Online Application – A completed online application for which the application fee will be waived
Resumé – A resumé which demonstrates the applicant’s potential for leadership and academic achievement as evidenced by activities during his or her professional career or undergraduate studies
GPA – Students must have achieved an overall minimum Bridgewater State University GPA of 3.3 at the time their application is accepted
Letters of Recommendation – Three appropriate letters of recommendation, two of which must come from full-time BSU criminal justice faculty. (Applicants who do not believe they have worked with or taken classes from a full-time faculty member, should contact the Program Coordinator for guidance on this requirement)
Statement of Purpose – a 750-word statement of purpose that describes the experiences that have influenced your decision to study or work within the discipline of criminal justice or criminology. Also, include academic topics of interest, your commitment to social justice and how you see these issues reflected in the areas of criminal justice.

Program of Study

Core courses (21 credits)

Electives (6 credits)

Complete six credits, selected from any 500-level CRJU course that is not a core course.

Other courses

With the approval of the graduate coordinator, students may take up to two of these courses or other approved graduate courses:

Exit requirement (6-8 credits)

Students may select a thesis or non-thesis option.

Thesis option

CRJU 502 - Thesis (6 credits); oral defense required
For further information, please see the Graduate Academic Policies and Procedures “Thesis” section of the catalog.

Non-thesis options

Option 1 – Project

CRJU 597 - Research Seminar in Criminal Justice (4-8 credits); oral defense required
- to include the completion of a project brief and project presentation (for oral defense)
Plus an additional 500-level CRJU elective course, if only four credits of CRJU 597 were taken.

Option 2 – Comprehensive Exam

A comprehensive examination, which should be attempted in the last semester of the student’s program. Please see the Graduate Academic Policies and Procedures section of this catalog for additional information.
Plus six 500-level CRJU elective credits.

Total minimum credits: 33*

*For students in the early admissions program at Bridgewater State who completed graduate courses for undergraduate credit (with a minimum grade of “B”), those courses will be applied to the 33 credits.