Criminal Justice MS

Niagara University’s M.S. in criminal justice administration program (33 credit hours) prepares individuals for leadership positions in a wide range of fields within the criminal justice profession. Because the university is situated on the border of the United States and Canada, courses offer students an international perspective in the field. The faculty in the criminal justice program is highly credentialed and accessible to students in the program.

The program curriculum covers practical experience, critical research, integrated management and administration techniques, analytical and communication skills, decision-making and professional ethics.

Students’ powers of discrimination and judgment are enhanced, preparing them to function effectively in any organizational environment. The program is designed to equip students to anticipate, address and correct problems faced in the criminal justice professions in an efficient, effective and ethical manner.

Research conducted by criminal justice faculty includes imprisonment policies and their effects on crime rates, probation absconders in Erie County and the relationship between religiosity and delinquency and drug use.

Alumni from Niagara’s criminal justice program are working for the F.B.I., the U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.

NU’s criminal justice administration program offers:

• Highly credentialed and accessible faculty
• Industry-specific internship opportunities
• Convenient weeknight classes
• Networking with criminal justice professionals
• 4+1 BS/MS accelerated program options
• The master’s degree program is designed for completion in one calendar year for full-time students and two calendar years for part-time students

CONFIDENCE, CLARITY of direction, and a heightened sense of PURPOSE. Since its beginnings in 1856, Niagara University has lived its mission. Today, our University Community looks to St. Vincent de Paul, Catholic priest and reformer, innovative educator, and organizer of charitable and systemic responses to poverty for its contemporary EDUCATIONAL, CATHOLIC and VINCENTIAN vision. We were one of the first universities to offer service learning, a program now called IMPACT, providing tutoring, non-profit capacity building, and other change-producing projects in the community. Thousands of NU students have participated since the program's inception and more than 70 classes include project based learning activities as an integral part of their syllabi. We have a Career Services process called PATHWAYS that guides students all the way through their undergraduate careers and into the future. We offer a Poverty Minor and a Leadership Minor, in which students—regardless of major--acquire the knowledge, skills and practical experience needed to be effective in combating poverty and leading transformation. We provide grants to faculty who research to find causes and solutions to poverty. We offer scholarships to students who are committed to local service work and systemic change. Our students, faculty and staff stand with the poor in some of the most disadvantaged areas in our community and in our world including Haiti, Peru, Guatemala and Panama.