The Ph.D. in criminal justice and criminology requires a total of 72 semester hours. Mandatory among these hours are a minimum of 39 hours of graded course work and a minimum of 33 hours of Crm J 800 research credits.

Core Courses (24 credits)

• Crm J 513: Multicultural Issues in Criminal Justice OR Crm J 580: Gender and Justice
• Crm J 514: Professional Development in Criminal Justice and Criminology (1 credit pass/fail)
• Crm J 520: Criminal Justice Research Methods OR Equivalent course
• Crm J 522: Foundations of Quantitative Methods OR Equivalent course
• Crm J 523: Intermediate Quantitative Methods
• Crm J 530: Criminal Justice: Processes and Institutions
• Crm J 540: Seminar in Evaluation Research
• Crm J 555: Seminar in Criminological Theory

Electives (15 credits)

Courses selected from within the DCJC or from other departments. DCJC courses include:

• Crm J 505: Comparative Criminal Justice
• Crm J 510: Leadership in Criminal Justice
• Crm J 511; Criminal Justice Management
• Crm J 512: Juvenile Justice
• Crm J 521: Advanced Topics in Criminal Justice Research Methods
• Crm J 524: Advanced Topics in Quantitative Methods
• Crm J 531: Drugs, Alcohol, and Crime
• Crm J 541: Seminar in Corrections
• Crm J 542: Community Corrections
• Crm J 560: Prosecution and Adjudication
• Crm J 570: The Police and Society
• Crm J 572: Seminar in Comparative Policing
• Crm J 580: Gender and Justice
• Crm J 591: Seminar in the Administration of Criminal Justice
• CRMJ 593 – Special Topics in Criminological Theory   
• Crm J 594: Special Topics in Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Crm J 595: Advanced Topics in Criminal Justice Institutions and Processes
• Crm J 596: Special Topics: Criminal Justice and Public Health
• Crm J 600: Special Projects or Independent Study

CRM J 800 – Dissertation Research Hours (Pass/Fail) (33 credits minimum)

Students must complete a minimum of 36 graded credits and a minimum of 33 CRM J 800-level credits to complete the Ph.D.

In addition to the course requirements, each student in the Ph.D. program is required to have formal teaching and/or research experience in an institution of higher learning before receiving the Ph.D. degree. Serving as a teaching assistant in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology satisfies this teaching requirement. Collecting original data also fulfills this requirement.