New Program for 2018: Master of Science Degree in Criminal Justice/Accelerated Master of Science Degree in Criminal Justice

The Department of Criminology, Law and Society (CLS) will be offering a new master of science degree in criminal justice. The program is designed to advance the knowledge, skills, and career prospects of early-to-mid-career professionals as well as those seeking their first jobs in the criminal justice system. “The degree curriculum gives students the skills to interpret research and write policy briefs, as well as giving them hands-on and practical experience that they can take with them directly into their careers,” says Allison Redlich, director of the department’s graduate programs.

This degree program is designed to prepare students to evaluate the strengths and limitations of existing criminal justice policy and practice, and to develop pathways for improvement. The last few decades have seen tremendous growth in the availability of scientific evidence on which tactics, strategies, policies, and practices work and which do not. Indeed, the department’s faculty have been national and international leaders in the generation of high quality scientific evidence that can be used to devise, select, and implement policies and practices with the greatest prospects for success. With this distinguished multidisciplinary faculty and the university’s proximity to many justice organizations at the federal, state, and local levels in the National Capital region, graduates will be well prepared to assume leadership roles in organizations that develop and implement criminal justice policy.

Hand in hand with the new MS in criminal justice, CLS is also offering an accelerated master of science degree in criminal justice. Lisa Newmark, director of the CLS undergraduate program, notes that demand for an accelerated master’s degree has been high from undergraduates in its BA and BS programs, and that the accelerated MS is available to any Mason undergraduate as long as they have earned 75 to 100 credit hours and meet the GPA and other admission requirements.