Admission Requirements

• Master of Arts
• Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Requirements

• Master of Arts
• Doctor of Philosophy

Mailing Address:
Department of Criminology, Law, and Justice (MC 141)
1007 West Harrison Street
Chicago, IL 60607-7140

Campus Location: 4022 BSB
Program Codes: 20FS5130MA (MA); 20FS5130PHD (PhD)
Telephone: (312) 996-2383
E-mail: casillas@uic.edu
Web Site: http://www.uiccriminaljustice.org/home/index.php
Head of the Department: Edna Erez
Director of Graduate Studies: Gregory Matoesian

The Department of Criminology, Law, and Justice offers work leading to the Master of Arts and the Doctor of Philosophy in Criminology, Law, and Justice. The Master of Arts is organized into four curricular areas that include: the nature and development of rules, rule-breaking behavior, rule application, and research methodology. It is designed for careers in research, evaluation, and criminal justice administration. The Interdepartmental Concentration in Gender and Women’s Studies is available to students in this program. Building on the above general curricular areas, the Doctor of Philosophy degree offers additional course work in theory, substantive specialties, and research methods. Concentrations are offered in Law and Society, Criminology, and Organizations and Administration.

The Department of Criminology, Law, and Justice also cosponsors, with the College of Pharmacy, a program leading to the Master of Science in Forensic Science; consult Forensic Science in the College of Pharmacy section of the catalog for more information.

The department cosponsors the Interdepartmental Graduate Concentration in Violence Studies with the Jane Addams College of Social Work. This concentration is available to students in the department's graduate programs. See Violence Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences section or the Jane Addams College of Social Work section.

Admission Requirements

Applicants are considered on an individual basis. Complete transcripts of all undergraduate and any graduate work must be submitted. In addition to the Graduate College minimum requirements, applicants must also meet the following program requirements:

Master of Arts

• Baccalaureate Field Applicants must have a baccalaureate degree in criminology, law, and justice or a related field from an accredited college or university.
• Grade Point Average At least 3.00/4.00^a for the final 60 semester hours (90 quarter hours) of undergraduate study.
• Tests Required GRE General (verbal, quantitative, and analytical). The combined verbal and quantitative scores on the GRE must be at least 1000.
• Minimum English Competency Test Score
  • TOEFL 550 (paper-based); 213 (computer-based); 80, with subscores of Reading 19, Listening 17, Speaking 20, and Writing 21 (iBT Internet-based), OR,
  • IELTS 6.5, with subscores of 6.0 for all four subscores.
• Letters of Recommendation Three required, preferably from professors familiar with student’s recent work or in case of the applicants with professional experience, from supervisors.
• Personal Statement Required; one page. The statement should address the applicant’s reasons for wanting to take graduate work in criminology, law, and justice and the relationship of this advanced training to the applicant’s professional and other goals.
• Other Requirements Applicants must submit a sample of their academic writing.
• Nondegree Applicants The department will consider applicants for nondegree status who hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and meet the admission requirements of the Graduate College.

^a In exceptional situations, students with GPAs less than 3.00 but higher than 2.75, or without strong backgrounds in the social sciences, may be admitted on limited status and will be required to remedy academic deficiencies before being admitted to regular status.

Doctor of Philosophy

• Baccalaureate Field Students may enter either with an MA or a BA. If applicants received their Criminology, Law, and Justice MA from UIC, then they must have received a “high pass” (3.50) on their MA comprehensive exam.
• Grade Point Average: At least 3.00/4.00 for the final 60 semester hours (90 quarter hours) of undergraduate study, with a GPA of at least 3.25 in all graduate courses taken.
• Tests Required GRE scores (verbal, quantitative, and analytical) with a minimum combined verbal and quantitative score of 1000.
• Minimum English Competency Test Score
  • TOEFL 550 (paper-based); 213 (computer-based); 80, with subscores of Reading 19, Listening 17, Speaking 20, and Writing 21 (iBT Internet-based), OR,
  • IELTS 6.5, with subscores of 6.0 for all four subscores.
• Letters of Recommendation Three letters of recommendation addressing the applicant’s academic accomplishments and potential.
• Personal Statement Required; a statement of academic and professional goals.
• Other Requirements An MA thesis or other major research paper; a writing sample (if applying with a BA only).

Degree Requirements

In addition to the minimum requirements of the Graduate College, students must meet the following program requirements:

Master of Arts

• Minimum Semester Hours Required 40.
• Course Work Required Courses: CLJ 500, 520, 540, 547, 560, 561, and 562.
• Electives: 12 semester hours, 4 hours must be from among the three CLJ Signature Seminars (CLJ 541, 546, 548). Of the remaining 8 hours, 4 hours must be at the 500-level.
• Comprehensive Examination Required.
• Thesis, Project, or Course-Work-Only Options Course work only with comprehensive examination required. No other options are available.

Doctor of Philosophy

Students who have received a master’s degree or its equivalent prior to being admitted to the doctoral program may receive up to 32 semester hours of credit toward the 96-hour requirement. Credit for other graduate work in a related field, whether taken at UIC or another institution, may be given on an individual basis. Students may earn up to 20 hours of credit for dissertation research in CLJ 599. Students admitted with a BA degree must complete both the MA and PhD requirements which include the MA comprehensive examination. Students with an MA from other institutions must satisfy UIC Criminology, Law, and Justice MA requirements. The graduate director will evaluate students’ prior preparation and determine remedial work if necessary.

• Minimum Semester Hours Required 96 beyond the baccalaureate.
• Course Work Required Courses: CLJ 500, 520, 540, 547, 560, 561, 562, 564, and 570. Note: For CLJ 570, upon departmental approval, an equivalent methods course may be taken either outside the department or as an independent study course in the department, dependent on the student’s dissertation research.
• Electives, Areas of Concentration: Upon successful completion of the core curriculum students are required to complete 40 additional hours, no more than 12 of which may be taken outside the department. This includes two CLJ Signature Seminars (selected from CLJ 541, 546, and 548), one of which coincides with the student’s area of concentration. Signature Seminars are courses within the areas of concentration that offer further inquiry into central questions in the discipline. Three areas of concentration are offered, each of which typically requires students to complete five additional courses in an area:
  • Law and Society, which examines the nature of formal and informal social norms, their development, use and variation across cultures, societies, and over time.
  • Criminology, which examines the theories of deviance, crime causation, criminal behavior, and explanations of rule breaking from psychological, sociological, economic, and political perspectives.
  • Organizations and Administration, which explores organizations and agencies whose principal function is the application of law, and theories explaining practices of decision making and how organizations are created, maintain and develop resources, and relate to internal and external environments.
• Examinations Departmental Qualifying Examination: None.
• Preliminary Examination: Required; written and oral.
• Dissertation Required.

Interdepartmental Concentration in Gender and Women’s Studies

Students earning a graduate degree in this department may complement their courses by enrolling in a concentration in Gender and Women’s Studies after consulting with their graduate advisor. See Gender and Women’s Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences section for more information.

Interdepartmental Graduate Concentration in Violence Studies

Students earning a graduate degree in this department may complement their courses by enrolling in a concentration in Violence Studies after consulting with their graduate advisor. See Violence Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences section or the Jane Addams College of Social Work section for more information.