The educational objective of the program in crime and justice studies is to graduate students who have the capacity to understand and undertake research, educate others, and make informed policy choices in the area of crime and justice. We believe that our students will be equally prepared to undertake positions in teaching, research, and administration of justice agencies. 

The program is conceptualized in three distinct stages. A student entering the program with solid research skills and a criminal justice master’s degree in hand can achieve the PhD with 54 semester hours of coursework, including the 12-hour dissertation. Such a student would be admitted directly to the second level of the program.

Applicants with demonstrated aptitude and potential for success in doctoral work, who lack a solid background in research methods, statistics, criminology theory, criminal law and procedure, or the criminal justice system will be required to acquire those needed prerequisites at the first level of the program.

The second level of the program, comprised of 30 hours of course work, is designed to engage participants in seven required doctoral courses (21 hours) that ensure the students’ mastery of quantitative and qualitative research methods, statistical analysis, criminology theory, criminal law and procedure, justice administration and management theory, and justice-related technology. The remaining three courses (nine hours) at this level are intended to establish the basis of the individual student’s specialty area. The choice of specific electives should be the result of careful collaboration and guidance involving the student’s doctoral advisor.

The third level, or doctoral development level of the program is designed so that students achieve genuine scholarly authority in the criminal justice discipline generally, and specifically within a chosen specialty area. Students achieving this program level will work closely with the doctoral advisor and dissertation committee members in planning an individualized sequence of course work and research that maximizes their scholarly progress toward established career goals.

For more information about Texas State University- San Marcos visit: www.txstate.edu/about/index.html