Sociology and Criminology, M.A.

Admission Requirements

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

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

Degree Requirements (34 total credit hours)

1. The program requires a minimum of 34 credit hours of graduate study.
2. All students must complete a minimum of 28 credit hours of course work plus six (6) credit hours of either internship (CRM 598 /SOC 598 ) or thesis (CRM 599 /SOC 599 ).
3. Only six (6) credithours 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 credit hours) or a thesis option CRM 599 /SOC 599  (6 credit 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 16 credit 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 524 .
7. All students are required to take the Qualifying Assessment near the end of completion of the first 9 credit hours of MA study. The purpose of the qualifying assessment is to: 1) assess the candidate’s status in the program; 2) have the candidate declare a concentration in either criminology or 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 credit 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.