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MSCJ / JD Joint Degree Pathway

The faculties of the College of Law (COL) and the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice (CCJ) have approved a joint degree pathway culminating in both a Juris Doctor degree (JD), awarded by the College of Law, and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice degree (MSCJ), awarded by the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Under the joint degree pathway, a student can obtain the degrees in significantly less time than it would take to obtain both degrees if pursued consecutively.
  • Essential Criteria
    1. Candidates for the pathway must meet the entrance requirements for and be accepted by both programs. Both programs must be informed by the student at the time of application to the second program that the student intends to pursue the joint degree.
    2. The joint degree pathway is not open to students who have already earned a JD or MSCJ.
    3. For law students, enrollment in the MSCJ program is required no later than the completion of 63 credit hours in the JD program. For MSCJ students, enrollment in the JD program is required no later than the completion of 24 credit hours in the MSCJ program.
    4. A student must satisfy the curriculum requirements for each degree before either degree is awarded. CCJ will allow 12 credit hours of COL criminal law and jurisprudence courses to be credited toward both the MSCJ and JD degrees. These 12 credit hours of law classes will be in lieu of four elective courses. Reciprocally, law students may receive 9 hours of credit toward the satisfaction of the JD degree for courses taken in the MSCJ curriculum upon completion of the MSCJ degree with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Subject to prior approval, law school students are normally allowed 6 credit hours from graduate-level courses offered by other units as counting toward the JD degree.
    5. A full-time law student enrolled in the joint degree pathway may spend the first year in either the COL or CCJ. A part-time law student enrolled in the joint degree pathway may begin the student’s studies in either program, but must take the first three semesters of law study consecutively. Students admitted to one program may enter the second program thereafter without once again qualifying for admission so long as they have notified the second program before the end of the first week of the first semester in the second program and are in good academic standing when studies commence in the second program.
    6. A student enrolled in the joint degree pathway will not receive either degree until the student has satisfied all of the requirements for both degrees, or until the student has satisfied the requirements of one of the degrees as if the student had not been a joint degree pathway candidate.