Pursuing Graduate Studies

So you want to go to graduate school? We get a lot of questions from students and alumni about graduate programs in criminology, criminal justice, and related fields. The Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies currently does not offer a graduate program, but other departments from the School of Social Sciences offer the following graduate programs:

• MA in Counseling
• MA in Cultural Resources Management
• MA in History
• MA in Public Administration

Other California State University campuses also offer graduate programs in criminal justice: San Jose State University has  MS in Criminology, Global Criminology Concentration and MS in Justice Studies, Sacramento State University has MS in Criminal Justice program, CSU Long Beach has MS in Criminology and Criminal Justice program, and San Diego State University has MS in Criminal Justice and Criminology program.

UC Berkeley closed down its School of Criminology decades ago but its Law School has a well regarded Jurisprudence and Social Policy program. Criminologists in sociology departments that have MA and PhD programs — historically, the most common training places for criminology students — can be found scattered through the University of California system. UC Davis and UCLA both have MA in Sociology program.

The American Society of Criminology also has a list of graduate and undergraduate programs in criminology, criminal justice, and related fields.

If you are thinking of pursuing graduate studies but are not sure where to start, the Career Center’s Graduate School: A Comprehensive Guide will help you get the process started.  Your CCJS faculty advisor can also help you find a graduate program that fits your personal goals.