Graduate Program

The Division of Criminology and Criminal Justice offers a program of study designed to provide students a broad-based understanding of the criminal justice system and society’s response to crime. A major goal of the program is to develop understanding of the applied and theoretical aspects of crime and criminal justice.

The program provides students with a high degree of flexibility and allows students to tailor the program to match their own career interests. Core coursework consists of classes in the theoretical foundations of criminology and criminal justice, methodology, and criminal justice policy analysis.

Students are required to develop a specialization in a substantive area outside of the Division of Criminology and Criminal Justice. In consultation with an adviser, students identify and complete a minimum of four classes, thereby creating a specialty that is unique for each student. Potential specialization fields include public management, political science, urban studies, and geographic information systems.

Criminology and criminal justice graduate courses also support other PSU degree programs, such as the Master of Public Administration, Master of Public Policy, Master of Urban Studies, Ph.D. in Urban Studies, and Ph.D. in Public Affairs and Policy.