Best Universities offering graduate programs in Criminal Justice

The Criminal Justice Institute is the curriculum-based criminal law clinical program of Harvard Law School. The mission of the Criminal Justice Institute is to educate Harvard Law School students in becoming effective, ethical and zealous criminal defense lawyer-advocates through practice in representing indigent individuals involved in the Massachusetts court system as well as to research and present issues and debates about the criminal and juvenile justice systems in order to affect local and national reform.

Harvard Law School is committed to the full inclusion of students with disabilities in the life of the University. Students requesting accessibility resources or accommodations in any of HLS’s Clinical and Pro Bono Programs may work with Accessibility Services in the Dean of Students Office

Yale Law School offers a rich academic experience studying criminal law through many different lenses. In addition to a variety of courses, students can collaborate with faculty on empirical research, work on reform efforts, and gain hands-on experience through work with clinics and student organizations.

Two vibrant centers at the Law School create a myriad of ways for students to get involved in criminal justice reform work that is having a profound impact across the country.

Several clinics and student organizations play an important role in introducing students to the state and federal criminal justice systems and affording the students an opportunity to represent individual clients and pursue systemic reforms.

The Law School has compiled the following list of upper-level courses currently or recently offered to guide students interested in criminal justice. Related clinics and/or externships are marked with an asterisk and grouped separately at the end of the list. The Law School offers the listed courses regularly, but some are not available every year.

The Law School offers the following clinics and externships related to criminal justice: the Criminal Justice Clinic, the Prosecution Clinic, the Post-Conviction Relief Clinical Practicum, and the International Justice & Conflict Resolution Externship.

Vanderbilt Law School's Criminal Justice Program offers an array of courses, seminars, and clinics for students interested in criminal law and procedure. In addition to the first-year criminal law course, Vanderbilt's large criminal law faculty and adjunct faculty teaches over twenty courses in the second and third years that focus on criminal theory and practice, criminal procedure, juvenile justice, international criminal law, mental health law, and various other areas connected to criminal law. The program also features academic roundtables and symposia aimed at exploring current legal scholarship on criminal justice issues.

All students are required to take Criminal Law during their first year. Students who are interested in practicing criminal law should consider pursuing a criminal justice course concentration, which should include: Constitutional Law II; Evidence; Criminal Procedure: Investigation; Criminal Procedure: Adjudication; an experiential/skills course that has a criminal justice orientation; and at least three other courses from the list below. Students should also consider short course offerings that vary from year to year (recent one-credit courses included Policing in the Twenty-First Century and Defending a Criminal Case).

Berkeley Law is an ideal place to study criminal justice. The faculty includes top criminologists, renowned experts in domestic and international law, first-rate practitioners, and scholars who bring an interdisciplinary approach to the most pressing problems of the day. Students gain important practical experience through our Death Penalty Clinic, East Bay Community Law Center, Policy Advocacy Clinic, Samuelson Law and Technology Clinic, and Domestic Violence Practicum, as well as the Field Placements, Student-Initiated Legal Services Projects, and a host of advocacy classes.

Berkeley Law takes full advantage of the rich opportunities in the Bay Area. The nine-county region offers countless possibilities for prosecution and defense field placements and careers in local, state, and federal agencies, as well as policy work for non-profit organizations.

Georgetown Law students graduate with a strong background in all aspects of the American criminal justice system, whether they want to pursue a career in criminal law or apply their knowledge to other legal fields. For J.D. students, the first-year curriculum includes courses in criminal procedure and criminal law. Students planning a career in the field can then concentrate on specialized courses covering topics such as federal white-collar crime and international criminal law, as well as seminars in areas such as capital punishment, computer crime and race, gender and criminal law. The students publish renowned journals including the American Criminal Law Review, the nation’s premier journal of criminal law, and Georgetown Law Journal’s Annual Review of Criminal Procedure, the “must-have” reference guide for criminal law practitioners.

Georgetown Law’s faculty scholars are also at the forefront of contemporary issues in criminal law, such as race and criminal justice, drug policy, crime in the digital age, the prosecutions of corporations, the special challenges of the juvenile justice system and prisons. The faculty’s research is regularly published in leading scholarly journals, and news organizations of

The Transnational Program on Criminal Justice fosters research and discussion on domestic, comparative, international and transnational criminal justice systems. The Transnational Program on Criminal Justice produces timely, collaborative research to improve the understanding on diverse topics at the intersection of criminal justice, comparative and international law, and human rights law.

Two of the goals of TPCJ are supporting cutting-edge and important legal research by practitioners and scholars and to create bridges between legal practice and legal research in the United States and other countries. As a way to advance these goals, the TPCJ has welcomed practitioners and scholars at different stages in their careers from around the world.

Michigan graduate degree from University of Michigan-Dearborn in the rapidly growing criminal justice profession. This flexible degree program is 30-32 credits and provides a thesis and non-thesis option, while offering traditional, evening and online courses. ublic safety professionals from partnering organizations may qualify for a scholarship valued at 20 percent of tuition and fees through the Community Service Personnel Scholarship program.

Faculty, who are experts in their field, developed the Master of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice to prepare students for research, management and policy positions or continuation into a Ph.D. program.

Criminal law at NYU is a rich discipline that begins with the first-year course in Criminal Law, which covers general principles of criminal responsibility. Second-year students can take courses in evidence or criminal procedure. Most law schools have only one course in criminal procedure—at NYU, students can choose from four. Upper-level courses in substantive and procedural criminal law include Business Crime, Federal Criminal Law, and Juvenile Justice.

Crime and criminal justice are at the forefront of national policy and practice. The increasing emphasis on professional preparation in criminal justice careers places additional academic demands on the in-service professional. To meet this need, Georgia State’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology offers a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science degree in criminal justice, as well as a Doctor of Philosophy degree in criminal justice and criminology.

Career opportunities for graduates of the master’s program in criminal justice are numerous, diverse and rewarding. Georgia State graduates have found employment at the following: FBI, ATF, GBI, EPA, Secret Service, numerous local and state law enforcement and correctional agencies, probation and parole agencies, juvenile justice agencies and the research branches of federal, state and local agencies.