Criminal/Social Justice / Bachelor of Arts to Master of Science in Criminal/Social Justice / Fast Track

The Justice, Law and Public Safety Studies Department (JLPSS) offers a Bachelor's to Master's Fast Track option for Lewis University undergraduate Criminal/Social Justice majors.  The Fast Track option allows qualified undergraduates to complete the graduate MSCSJ (Master of Science in Criminal/Social Justice) in less than time than would be possible if the two programs would be taken separately.  Nine graduate hours may be used to complete the Bachelor's degree (128 hours) and to satisfy specific course requirements for the Master's program.  The total number of required graduate credits (36) will remain the same.  Students apply for admission to the Fast Track option by submitting both the department application form and Block Tuition Exemption form to the Department Chair of JLPSS when they reach senior status (complete 90 credit hours) and have achieved an overall GPA 3.0.  Qualified students approved for the Fast Track option may apply for financial aid to graduate courses and are exempt from the 18-hour block in the semesters when they take these select graduate courses.  With planning, the MSCSJ could be awarded within one year of graduating with the Bachelor's degree. Students who take nine credit hours of approved graduate courses in Criminal/Social Justice in their senior year and earn a grade of "B" or better in each of those courses will have to complete only 27 more credit hours of remaining core and elective courses including passing a comprehensive examination to earn the MSCSJ.  Students accepted into this Fast Track option are required to apply for admission to the MSCSJ.

Graduate courses that may be taken in their senior year during the fall and spring semesters are listed below.  With permission of the JLPSS Department Chair, one to three of these graduate courses may be applied to the undergraduate core or elective courses in the Criminal/Social Justice curriculum. Listed next to each graduate course is the undergraduate course for which it substitutes.

81-520 Violent Crime substitutes for 81-357 Victims and Victimization

81-524 Correctional Counseling and Rehabilitation substitutes for 81-485 Rehabilitation Counseling

81-525 Drugs: Distribution and Impact substitutes for 81-340 Drugs: Incidence and Abuse

81-533 Ethics and Integrity substitutes for 81-356 Professionalism and Ethics

81-536 Criminal Procedure substitutes for 81-445 Criminal Procedure/Rules of Evidence

81-555 Criminal Law substitutes for 81-430 Elements of Criminal Law

81-559 Police Civil Liability substitutes for 81-496 Rights and Civil Liability

81-569 Criminology substitutes for 81-220 Criminology