The School of Public Affairs offers a unique opportunity for highly qualified undergraduate criminal justice students. The accelerated Bachelor of Arts/Master of Criminal Justice (BA/MCJ) program is designed to allow students to work concurrently toward the BA in Criminal Justice (BACJ) and the Master of Criminal Justice (MCJ). The program allows qualified undergraduate students to start on their Master of Criminal Justice (MCJ) degree while simultaneously completing their bachelor’s degree. Graduate credit hours earned while enrolled in the BA/MCJ program can be counted toward both the Bachelor of Arts and Master of Criminal Justice degrees.
Qualified students can complete up to nine credits of graduate-level criminal justice courses that are eligible to double count toward both their BA and MCJ degrees. This will allow students to complete the MCJ degree on an accelerated timeframe.
The BACJ program requires a total of 120 semester credit hours including the UCCS BACJ adaptation of the UCCS general education, the School of Public Affairs criminal justice major requirements (39 semester credit hours), and a minimum of 45 semester credit hours of upper-division course work (3000 and above).
General Requirements
The BA/MCJ program will allow students to count nine semester hours toward both the Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice (BACJ) and Master of Criminal Justice (MCJ) programs. In order for credit to be double-counted, the following conditions must be met:
- Dual credit courses must be approved by the MCJ Director as meeting requirements in both programs.
- Dual credit courses must be completed with a grade of B or better.
- Dual credit courses must be taken at the graduate level (for graduate credit).
Course Requirements
BA/MCJ students will complete the following courses for dual credit:
- Two of the following required core MCJ courses (6 credits):
- CJ 5001 - Criminal Justice Systems, Policy and Practice
- CJ 5002 - Criminological Theory
- CJ 5003 - Research Methods Note: CJ 5003 should be taken the semester before Capstone/Thesis.
- CJ 5007 - Violence
- CJ 5008 - Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Social Class: Implications for Criminology, CJ, & Public Service
- One MCJ Elective (3 credits)
Once concurrent students have successfully completed the three graduate-level courses (9 credit hours) and the 111 BACJ credit hours have been reviewed and approved by the MCJ Director, the student will be admitted into the MCJ program.
Eligibility Requirements
Both current UCCS and new transfer students are eligible to apply after meeting the following criteria:
- Currently enrolled in the School of Public Affairs as a Criminal Justice major
- Junior year students (making the application for their senior year)
- Completed the following 14 semester credit hours in Criminal Justice:
- CJ 1001 - Introduction to Criminal Justice
- CJ 2041 - Crime Theory and Causes
- CJ 3100 - Criminal Justice Research Methods
- CJ 3150 - Statistics for Criminal Justice
Grades of B or better in all of these courses are required.
(Transfer criminal justice courses must be approved and officially accepted toward the major).
- Minimum 3.25 cumulative GPA
- Completed official GRE, GMAT, or LSAT exam
Admission Criteria
Students can apply for the accelerated program during their junior year. Students will apply according to the SPA and UCCS Graduate School application deadlines for fall and spring admission. The following steps should help in the application process:
- Plan ahead when scheduling courses through the junior year. All four of the required undergraduate criminal justice courses and all of the student’s core education requirements must be completed by the end of the student’s junior year.
- At the beginning of the semester in which the student is applying to the program, the student should approach criminal justice faculty members about writing letters of recommendation. The student should also begin working on a personal statement of purpose. The following guidelines should help with writing the statement: The statement should describe the applicant’s reasons for undertaking graduate study in criminal justice, the applicant’s future career plans, and a planned area of concentration within criminal justice.
- Students will apply and submit all required documentation according to the graduate school application deadlines.
For further information contact:
Catherine Kaukinen, MCJ Director
Email: catherine.kaukinen@uccs.edu
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