The Criminal Justice concentration is an 18-hour course of study within the Master of Public Affairs program that prepares students with the strategic and technical skills needed to address management challenges and opportunities found in the criminal justice system.

Students acquire specialized knowledge of crime and criminal justice through courses in this concentration that will prepare them to manage and lead organizations in law enforcement, the courts, corrections, juvenile justice, and homeland security.

The Criminal Justice concentration is ideal for mid-career professionals who want to strengthen their knowledge of public management while obtaining a solid foundation in the latest research on crime and the effects of criminal justice programs and policies.

Learn to:

Analyze organizational problems as well as develop appropriate, theoretically informed, and evidence-based recommendations to solve those problems

Evaluate management practices and generate innovative solutions to improve those practices

Gain insight into strategies for leading organizational efforts to respond to, influence, and steer the process of criminal justice organizations

Critically interpret and conduct qualitative and quantitative analyses that contribute to the understanding and management of criminal justice organizations

Present complex ideas clearly and systematically in verbal, graphical, and written forms

Career opportunities

Federal, state, and local law enforcement

Federal, state, and local corrections

Judicial system

Private security

Emergency management