Master of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice
The M.S. in Criminology and Criminal Justice program provides students with the theoretical groundwork, research and statistical skills needed to design and evaluate effective public safety policy and practice. The program prepares students for both practitioner and management careers in the fields of law enforcement, corrections, criminal justice management, parole and probation. In addition, students who wish to continue on to doctoral studies will find that the program’s thesis option prepares them well for such a path. A student in the graduate program can take up to three courses or twelve semester hours in a semester. For the convenience of the student, courses may be taken in any sequence, with the exception of the thesis, which is taken after a student has completed at least 24 credits of the program. Students cannot register for any thesis credits if their grade point average is below a 3.0 or if they have any grades below a grade of “C” in the program.
General Admission Requirements and Documents
The program welcomes applications from individuals who have strong academic records and interest in criminology and criminal justice. To be considered, applicants must meet the following requirements:
- Completed application to the University
- $40 application fee
- Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution
- Official transcripts for all previous college work received directly from each institution
- Writing sample indicating evidence of ability to conduct scholarly research, preferably written in the American Psychological Association (APA) style of writing (thesis option applicants)
- Two professional reference forms from academic and professional sources
- Personal statement of educational and/or professional goals
- Personal résumé
4 + 1 B.S./M.S. Requirements and Documents
The 4 + 1 B.S./M.S. allows UT undergraduate criminology and criminal justice students to fulfill requirements of both the undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Students admitted into the integrated program may begin two courses (limited to 4 credits in each semester) from the M.S. program in the fall and spring of their last two semesters of undergraduate study after having completed 90 credit hours required for senior status. 4 + 1 students cannot enroll in more than 18 credit hours in the fall or spring semesters. 4 + 1 students cannot enroll in a graduate course in a summer session. The two courses replace one elective from Category 2 and one elective from Category 3 in the undergraduate program. These courses are applied to coursework within the major in both the B.S. and M.S. degrees. No graduate-level course can be used to satisfy any undergraduate course that is required in the major. Qualified students enrolled in this option are considered undergraduates until the satisfactory completion of all B.S. requirements. Upon successfully meeting all B.S. requirements, the bachelor's degree is conferred and students are automatically classified as graduate students.
Interested students should apply during their junior year. A conditional acceptance into the program allows students to register for coursework in the M.S. program pending the meeting of all requirements at the start of their senior year. To be considered, applicants must meet the following requirements:
- Completed 4 + 1 M.S. in Criminology and Criminal Justice application
- Good standing in UT's criminology and criminal justice major
- Minimum 90 earned credits with an overall undergraduate GPA of 3.0 out of a possible 4.0
- Minimum criminology and criminal justice major GPA of 3.25 out of a possible 4.0 in all coursework
- Junior/senior status with at least 24 earned credits in the criminology and criminal justice major when admitted (Applicants cannot have repeated any criminology and criminal justice courses for grade forgiveness. Applicant who transfers criminology/criminal justice credits from another institution must have taken at least 16 criminology/criminal justice credit hours at The University of Tampa.)
- Two professional reference forms from academic or professional sources
- Writing sample indicating evidence of ability to conduct scholarly research written in the American Psychological Association (APA) style of writing
- Personal statement of educational and/or professional goals
Criminology & Criminal Justice Department’s Graduate Retention Standards
All Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice graduate students must have a minimum 3.0 GPA in both their core and elective courses to graduate. Students who fall below a 3.0 GPA at any time during their enrollment in the program will be placed on academic probation and will have an 8-credit hour probationary period in which to raise their grades to a 3.0 GPA. Students failing to do so will be dismissed. Additionally, if a student’s grades are so low that he or she would not be able to raise his or her GPA to a 3.0 during a probationary period, he or she will be dismissed. Students will be eligible for this opportunity only once throughout their academic program. If a student’s GPA falls below 3.0 for a second time, he or she will be dismissed. No grade below a “C” will be accepted toward a graduate degree and the student must repeat the course prior to graduation. These retention standards apply to students enrolled in the 4 + 1 program as well.
Any student who received a Conditional Acceptance into the program will be dismissed if his or her GPA falls below 3.0 after his or her first 8 credit hours of coursework. If a conditionally admitted student is successful in his or her first semester, but his or her GPA falls below a 3.0 at any other time during his or her graduate work, he or she will follow the standards as outlined above.
Criminology & Criminal Justice Department’s Re-Enrollment Policy
Students who are academically dismissed from the program as a result of failure to meet the academic standards required for retention or as a result of a violation of the University of Tampa Academic Integrity Policy may apply for re-enrollment after one year of the date on their official letter of dismissal from the Office of Continuing and Graduate Studies. After the one-year period from the time the student had been dismissed, he or she must formally request re-enrollment into the program and provide a justification for consideration for re-enrollment in a letter to the Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice Graduate Coordinator. Within sixty days of the receipt of the letter, the Department Graduate Re-enrollment Review Committee will review the student’s request and notify the student, in writing, of the decision regarding his or her request for re-enrollment. The student must understand that re-enrollment to the program is not guaranteed and the department has no obligation to provide a student with an explanation of its decision.
A student who is considering making a request for re-enrollment must understand that his or her grades in all previous coursework in the program will remain part of the official transcript for purposes of calculating the student’s grade point average. If a student is granted re-enrollment, he or she must attain at least a 3.00 GPA at the end of his or her first semester of re-enrollment to remain in the program. Additionally, the student will remain subject to the university’s time limit policy of seven years from the time graduate work has begun to complete the degree.
Transfer Credits
University policy states that graduate students must earn a “B” or better. For the master’s degree, a minimum of 32 credit hours must be earned at The University of Tampa. Exemptions must be addressed in writing to the Graduate Council, c/o the Office of Graduate and Continuing Studies.
The Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice will accept up to four graduate hours of elective credits from a nationally accredited institution. Transfer of credits for courses that are considered to be the core courses in this program will not be accepted.
Please note that many institutions offer three credit hour courses. Any student who is approved to transfer a three-credit hour course into the program must understand he or she must still obtain 36 graduate credit hours to complete the degree.
Thesis Track Policy
Students who choose to register for thesis credits must have successfully completed at least twenty-four (24) credit hours. Students cannot register for any thesis credits if their grade point average is below a 3.0 or if they have any grade below a grade of “C” in the program. Any student who chooses to register for thesis credits in his or her last semester of coursework and receives any grade below a “C” at the end of that semester will not be permitted to register for thesis credits in a subsequent semester until the course is repeated and a grade of “C” or above is earned.
Students will be required to submit an electronic version of their competed thesis to the Macdonald-Kelce Library for inclusion in the digital repository, which is accessible on the Internet. Students may choose to release the work for immediate access worldwide or choose embargoes restricting access of full text to only The University of Tampa community for 1 or 2 years, before the work is released freely on the web through the repository. For more information about the library’s institutional repository, visit the Graduate Thesis Submission: Macdonald-Kelce Library.
Students should refer to the Thesis Preparation Handbook for the Master of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice for information regarding the process to follow to complete a thesis.
Degree Requirements: Thesis Option
Electives for the M.S. Program
| CRM 613 | Policing and Public Policy | 4 |
| CRM 615 | Corrections and Public Policy | 4 |
| CRM 617 | Justice, Law and Public Policy | 4 |
| CRM 619 | Victimology | 4 |
| CRM 621 | White Collar Crime | 4 |
| CRM 623 | Comparative Criminal Justice Systems | 4 |
| CRM 649 | Independent Study in Criminology and Criminal Justice | 4 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 8 |
M.S. Curriculum Core Courses
| CRM 601 | Proseminar in Criminal Justice Issues | 4 |
| CRM 603 | Criminological Theory | 4 |
| CRM 605 | Criminal Justice Policy and Program Evaluation | 4 |
| CRM 607 | Research Design and Methods | 4 |
| CRM 609 | Statistics for Criminal Justice Research | 4 |
| CRM 611 | Ethical Issues in Criminal Justice | 4 |
| CRM 650 | Thesis | 1-4 |
Total Credit Hours: 36
Degree Requirements: Non-Thesis Option
M.S. Curriculum Core Courses
| CRM 601 | Proseminar in Criminal Justice Issues | 4 |
| CRM 603 | Criminological Theory | 4 |
| CRM 605 | Criminal Justice Policy and Program Evaluation | 4 |
| CRM 607 | Research Design and Methods | 4 |
| CRM 609 | Statistics for Criminal Justice Research | 4 |
| CRM 611 | Ethical Issues in Criminal Justice | 4 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 24 |
Electives for the M.S. Program
| CRM 613 | Policing and Public Policy | 4 |
| CRM 615 | Corrections and Public Policy | 4 |
| CRM 617 | Justice, Law and Public Policy | 4 |
| CRM 619 | Victimology | 4 |
| CRM 621 | White Collar Crime | 4 |
| CRM 623 | Comparative Criminal Justice Systems | 4 |
| CRM 649 | Independent Study in Criminology and Criminal Justice | 4 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 12 |
Total Credit Hours: 36