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Prepare for your future.

~Undergoing curriculum changes in 2023-2024; For questions about the program and application process, contact the graduate coordinator directly. 

 

Radford University offers students the opportunity to complete a Master of Science degree in criminal justice. The graduate program in criminal justice allows students to prepare for careers in criminal justice and related fields. The program is designed both to enhance students' existing capabilities and to develop unique competencies and skills for future academic and career goals.

Please contact the Graduate Coordinator if you have questions about our graduate program.

Program Options

Why Choose Radford?

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Fits with your life

In-person or online, our program fits the needs of a wide range of individuals, including working professionals and aspiring doctoral students.

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Expands your job opportunities

Prepare for a new career, for career advancement or for further study in law school or a Ph.D. program.

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World-class faculty

Learn from graduate faculty members from the best academic programs in the country from diverse academic specialties.

Mission

The mission of the criminal justice graduate program is to stimulate, encourage and support students as they pursue the Master of Science degree. The program will be academically rigorous, serving those students: who will go on to pursue a Ph.D.; who are criminal justice and social science professionals seeking further study and analysis of the field; who are seeking academic preparation for leadership positions in criminal justice; and who are seeking preparation for community college teaching positions. The Criminal Justice Department maintains its commitment to providing excellence in graduate-level teaching, learning and scholarship that is also characterized by increasing contributions to the professional and technological needs of the state and region. 

Goals

  1. Provide students with an academically rigorous learning experience that provides an advanced understanding of criminal justice as an area of inquiry and as an academic discipline.
  2. Provide students with the advanced knowledge, skills and abilities required for leadership positions, highly specialized criminal justice positions, pursuit of further education in doctoral or law school and/or community college teaching positions.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Students should have a thorough and advanced understanding of the American criminal justice system and the theoretical, best practices, and public policy issues that are relevant to it.
  2. Students should be able to articulate an understanding of diversity and the effects of diversity on the lives of people within the context of contemporary issues of justice.
  3. Students should appreciate and utilize ethical decision making in criminal justice.
  4. Students should be able to construct a research design that would either evaluate an agency program or investigate an empirical or theoretical issue relating to the criminal justice system.
  5. Students should have opportunities to acquire experience with the criminal justice professional community through internships, service learning activities, research collaborations and/or experiential learning activities.