东北大学

The master’s program in criminology and criminal justice at Northeastern University concentrates both on the problem of crime as a form of deviant behavior and on the criminal justice and private security systems that deal with it. The program emphasizes a systems approach to criminal justice, stressing policy development and analysis, as well as the impact these policies have on the individuals and organizations charged with delivering justice in a fair and equitable manner. In concept and scope, the MS degree encompasses such related disciplines as law, sociology, political science, psychology, criminology, and public administration.

The master’s program is comprised of required courses encompassing both substantive and technical skills. Additionally, students choose elective courses from offerings within the graduate program in criminal justice or in other graduate programs in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities. The course offerings afford students the flexibility to customize their own programs, which may include an internship, directed study, or master’s thesis.

For students interested in criminal justice in an increasingly digital world, the Master of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice with a Concentration in Cybersecurity offers a strong criminal justice foundation coupled with the conceptual and practical skills that enables them to contribute to ensuring the reliability and security of cyberspace. Successful students will learn the principles, practices, and responsibilities of criminal justice professionals alongside the fundamental knowledge of computer science skills necessary for practical applications in the field. The concentration in cybersecurity provides criminal justice students an opportunity to learn how social behavior, policy, and legal rules can affect cybersecurity and the tools of information technology.

Faculty members in the graduate program represent several different academic disciplines, and teaching activities vary in nature depending on the instructors’ specific objectives. The faculty’s specialized interests help make possible a broad range of program offerings, including courses on the criminal justice process, victimology, security management, criminal law, juvenile justice, law and psychology, and terrorism.

The master’s program offers an optional cooperative education experience (co-op) to eligible students. Students extend the two-semester program to 18 months through a co-op work experience and its associated 2-credit experiential integration course. Cooperative education is central to both the Northeastern experience and to the College of Social Sciences and Humanities experiential liberal arts framework. Northeastern’s signature co-op ecosystem provides qualified master's students with six-month work experiences in businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies in Boston and across the United States. Graduate students take their work from campus learning spaces, apply their knowledge outside of the classroom, and then bring knowledge and skills gained in community learning spaces back to our campus learning spaces during the cocurricular experiential integration course.