Criminal Justice - Master of Science at Michigan State University

While a criminal justice undergraduate major comparable to that offered by this school is not required for to the Master of Science degree program, the applicant must have a background of education and occupational experience appropriate to the successful pursuit of graduate work in the concentration elected. Applicants insufficiently prepared for graduate study in criminal justice may have to complete collateral course work or pursue individualized study to satisfy deficiencies. Occupational experience is highly desirable before undertaking graduate study in some fields of criminal justice.

All applicants must have at least 12 credits of undergraduate course work in political science, economics, sociology, psychology, anthropology, history, social work, or any combination thereof. At least 6 of these credits must be in sociology, psychology, social work, or any combination of such courses.

Regular Status 

1. A bachelor's degree from a recognized educational institution.
2. An undergraduate grade–point average of 3.20 or higher.
3. Satisfactory scores on the Graduate Record Examination General Test. The GRE exam is waived for candidates with a cumulative undergraduate grade-point average of 3.2 or higher from an accredited and recognized institution and for applicants with a completed graduate degree.
4. Evidence of personal traits and characteristics considered important for scholarly performance.
5. Occupational experience is given weight in the selection of master's degree candidates whenever such experience is important to the study of a specific concentration or is an important factor in obtaining appropriate employment after completion of the Master of Science degree.

Provisional Status

A limited number of applicants who do not satisfy the school's regular requirements may be accepted provisionally. These students will be judged on the basis of their potential contribution to the field of criminal justice. Students should not be enrolled on a provisional basis for more than one semester. The student must be admitted on a regular basis to be considered a degree candidate. To qualify for to regular status, the student must complete a minimum of 10 credits in criminal justice graduate course work with a grade–point average of 3.20 or higher.

Requirements for the Master of Science Degree in Criminal Justice

The program is available under both Plan A (with thesis) and Plan B (without thesis).  The student must complete a total of 30 credits distributed as follows:

Requirements for Both Plan A and Plan B

Due to cancellations of many international English language proficiency tests, MSU will be temporarily accepting the following tests for international students applying for fall semester 2022. In addition, MSU will be expanding the ability for students to receive provisional admission. If a provisionally admitted student is able to take a test that meets our regular admission standards prior to enrollment, we will update their admission status to regular.