The Master of Arts in Criminal Justice educates criminal justice professionals and prepares students for further advanced graduate work and scholarship. The program serves students who wish to obtain a master’s degree as a credential for entry into the criminal justice professions, students employed in the criminal justice system who wish to acquire job-related knowledge or broaden their perspectives, and those employed in criminal justice who seek an academic career.

The master's program consists of a general survey of the field, with courses in research methods, the causes of crime, control of social deviance, and analyses of the police, courts and correctional systems, with opportunities to take additional courses in various sub-areas, such as drug abuse.

Criminal justice, including police science, is a rapidly expanding field of academic study and professional practice. More positions requiring an advanced degree are being created in the field than there are trained personnel to fill them. Hundreds of leaders in the New York City police force, as well as in major police forces around the country, have earned their master’s degree in Criminal Justice at John Jay.

For further information about the Master of Arts in Criminal Justice, contact:
Dr. James P. Levine, Dean of Graduate Studies
212-237-8423
jlevine@jjay.cuny.edu