Criminology and Public Sociology, M.A.

Admission Requirements

Applicants are required to submit the following to the Graduate School:

An application for graduate admission

1. Official transcripts of all college work (undergraduate and graduate)
2. Official scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
3. Three recommendations by individuals in professionally relevant fields; at least two must be from academics
4. An essay explaining how the MA in criminology and public sociology may assist the candidate in meeting her or his personal goals
5. Students must have a 3.0 overall undergraduate GPA

Degree Requirements

1. The program requires a minimum of 33 semester hours of graduate study, 27 of which must be in criminology and public sociology.
2. All students must complete a minimum of 27 semester hours of course work plus six (6) hours of either internship (CRM 598 /SOC 598 ) or thesis (CRM 599 /SOC 599 ).
3. Only six (6) hours of graduate coursework outside the department will count towards graduate degree credit requirements.
4. Students may elect between an internship option CRM 598 /SOC 598  (6 hours) or a thesis option CRM 599 /SOC 599  (6 hours). Each student must successfully, orally, defend a thesis or internship proposal prior to registering for thesis or internship hours.
5. Each student must pass an oral defense of either the thesis or internship.
6. All students are required to take 18 hours of core coursework: CRM 500 /SOC 500 , CRM 502 /SOC 502 , CRM 503 /SOC 503 , CRM 504 /SOC 504 , CRM 505 /SOC 505  and either CRM 561 /SOC 561  or SOC 508 .
7. All students are required to take the Qualifying Oral Exam near the end of completion of the first 9 hours of MA study. The purpose of the qualifying exam is to: 1) assess the candidate‘s status in the program; 2) have the candidate declare a concentration in either criminology or public sociology; 3) have the candidate design a course of study for the remainder of the program, with the assistance of graduate faculty.
8. Students must earn a “B” or above in all graduate courses taken to earn graduate credit in the program.
9. Transfer work must be equivalent to a “B” or better, and courses must be acceptable to the student‘s advisory committee. A minimum of 27 semester hours of graduate study must be completed in residence.
10. This program shall be completed within five years of the date of first registration for graduate study.