Criminal Justice

Master’s Degree Program

Graduate opportunities

A Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the University of North Texas improves your ability to take informed and thoughtful actions as an administrator, researcher, police officer, probation officer or caseworker in the criminal justice system.

Our exceptional curriculum provides you with an understanding of the nature and scope of the problems posed by crime and the operation and administration of the criminal justice system. You’ll examine these areas from theoretical, practical and empirical standpoints.

We also offer:

• Opportunities to participate in research under the direction of a faculty member
• Prospects of earning academic credit through an internship
• Sequence of courses in criminalistics
• Specialized electives so you can tailor your degree
  to your professional and personal goals
• Study abroad opportunities

Faculty members have a diverse range of educational and professional backgrounds. In addition to teaching courses, they assist the department in a variety of applied research projects and program evaluation studies as well as scholarly research. Some of their current research focuses on:

• Capital punishment
• Criminalistics
• Homeland security
• Juvenile delinquency
• Police operations and tactics
• Prison violence
• Victimization
• White collar crime

Attending UNT

Admission requirements

You will need to meet the admission requirements for the Toulouse Graduate School as well as the Department of Criminal Justice. The department’s requirements include:

• Completed application on file with the graduate school
• Verbal and analytical writing GRE scores on file with the graduate school
• Personal statement
• Transcripts on file with the graduate school with a minimum 2.8 GPA overall or minimum 3.0 GPA on the last 60 hours of undergraduate work

The personal statement should explain your career goals, your reason for pursuing a master’s degree, prior experience in the criminal justice field, prior research experience in criminal justice and anything in your personal background relevant to the admission decision. The statement should be sent via email to eric.fritsch@unt.edu or mailed to:

Eric J. Fritsch
University of North Texas
Department of Criminal Justice
1155 Union Circle #305130
Denton, Texas 76203-5017

The GRE scores and personal statement must be filed by Aug. 1 for fall admission or Dec. 1 for spring admission. Application deadlines are set by the graduate school. New students are not admitted for the summer semesters.

Degree requirements

Non-thesis option

• 12 semester hours of core curriculum
• 24 semester hours of electives
• Written comprehensive exam

Thesis option (requires departmental consent)

• 12 semester hours of core curriculum
• 15 semester hours of electives
• 3 semester hours of criminal justice statistics
• 6 semester hours of a thesis course
• Oral exam in conjunction with a thesis defense

Financial assistance

You can apply for financial assistance from national, state, university and departmental resources. The department offers the Tory J. Caeti Graduate Scholarship, which helps cover expenses for one academic year. For more information on this and other scholarships, visit pacs.unt.edu/criminal-justice. Information about other financial assistance programs is available at gradschool.unt.edu or financialaid.unt.edu.