Program Description

Application Requirements

Program-Specific Instructions

Additional Information

The submitted goals statement should be 200-300 words in length describing what you intend to do with your MS degree in Criminal Justice.

The writing sample is an essay of 500-750 words that identifies a current problem or issue in criminal justice and examines promising approaches to mitigating or resolving it. The essay should be original work and not have been written prior to this application. It should be persuasive to a criminal justice policy maker or practitioner. The essay can include references (not counted toward the word limit), but these are not required.

Two letters of recommendation should come from faculty members or individuals with first-hand knowledge of your academic or professional capabilities.

The Office of Graduate Admissions, in coordination with the MS in Criminal Justice review committee, will consider requests from admitted students to defer their enrollment to a future term if they choose not to enroll in the semester for which they were accepted. Offers of funding are not guaranteed for deferrals and are at the discretion of the program of admission. All requests for deferral must be submitted using the directions in the Self-Service Center by the enrollment deadline listed in the student’s offer of admission. Deferrals are only granted for a period up to one full academic year (Ex. Fall to Fall).

Academically strong Mason undergraduates with a commitment to research or graduate or professional studies can apply for an accelerated Master’s program and earn a Bachelor’s and a Master’s in five years.

Accelerated Master’s Application Requirements

Accelerated Master’s Program-Specific Instructions

Preparing to Apply

Prior to submitting your application, meet with the Bachelor’s/Accelerated Master’s (BAM) Coordinator, director of your undergraduate program and with the director of the master’s program. 

• Applicants to the accelerated MS must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.50 
• Applicants must have completed 15 upper-level undergraduate credits at Mason
• Applicants must submit:
  • Transcript
  • Two recommendation letters
  • Resume
  • Goals statement 
  • Writing sample
• Applicants should submit a course planning form
• Go over schedule for completion of the undergraduate degree
• Plan appropriate graduate course work
• Be familiar with the: policies for accelerated master's programs 



English Proficiency Requirements

All Mason students must have a full command of academic English to be successful in their studies. For this reason, Mason requires applicants to demonstrate English proficiency for admission consideration, regardless of citizenship. Click here to view the requirements.

International Transcript Requirements

All transcripts from colleges or universities outside the United States must be translated into English, if applicable, and submitted for evaluation to the Mason Office of Admissions. Mason will provide evaluation service free of charge for all international transcripts, however, some programs may request an outside evaluation be completed. Because of volume, more time may be needed to process applications requiring a Mason evaluation. You should submit your application 6 weeks prior to the deadline if you plan to utilize Mason’s free evaluation service. For expedited service, students may submit their documents to any NACES member organization at their own expense. If you decide to use an external evaluation service or if your program requires an outside evaluation, GPA and Degree equivalences must be included with your course-by-course evaluation. Mason evaluations are used for internal purposes and are not released to applicants. For information on international transcript requirements, go here.