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Criminal Justice, Joint MA & JD

Earn a Criminal Justice Dual Degree: MA in Criminal Justice & Juris Doctorate (JD) Joint Degree. Advance your legal career with our top-rated program from Seattle University.

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About this Program

Save Time When You Earn Your MA in Criminal Justice and Juris Doctorate (JD) Degrees Together

Are you interested in obtaining both the Master of Arts in Criminal Justice (MACJ) and Juris Doctorate (JD) degrees?

With our joint degree program, you may complete the degrees in less time than if the two degrees were obtained independently.

How It Works

The MACJ/JD joint degree program allows you to choose whether your first year of study is spent in the Department of Criminal Justice at the College of Arts and Sciences or in the School of Law.

The second year is spent in the other school. The last two years are mixed, allowing you to take courses in both the MACJ and Law School.

Students are required to be admitted separately to both the School of Law and the Criminal Justice Department in the College of Arts and Sciences. Current students interested in the joint degree option must apply for the other program during the fall term of their first year of study.

Criminal Justice and JD Joint Degree at a Glance

Learn how a joint graduate degree will contribute to your career goals. Then, explore course requirements and see how impactful a Seattle University degree can be.

The Master of Arts in Criminal Justice (MACJ): The MACJ curriculum consists of 55 credits: 18 3-credit courses and one 1-credit course. Students will take 11 foundation courses (31 credits) and 8 elective courses (24 credits).

Specialization in Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation

The MACJ with Specialization in Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation curriculum consists of 55 credits: 18 3-credit courses and one 1-credit course. Students will take 11 foundation courses (31 credits), 4 elective courses (12 credits) and 4 specialization area courses (12 credits).

Specialization in Investigative Criminology

The MACJ with Specialization in Investigative Criminology consists of 55 credits: 18 3-credit courses and one 1-credit course. Students will take 11 foundation courses (31 credits), 4 elective courses (12 credits) and 4 specialization area courses (12 credits).

Specialization in Victimology

The MACJ with Specialization in Victimology curriculum consists of 55 credits: 18 3-credit courses and one 1-credit course. Students will take 11 foundation courses (31 credits), 4 elective courses (12 credits) and 4 specialization area courses (12 credits).

Degree Requirements

Seattle University graduate criminal justice (CJ) students should be able to:

  • Evaluate and analyze a contemporary CJ issues with advanced knowledge of CJ terminology, major topic areas/issues in criminal justice and criminological theory and ethical issues in crime and justice.
  • Design a research proposal and conduct computer-based statistical analysis at basic (descriptive) level.
  • Understand the interdisciplinary nature of criminal justice and ethical issues in law enforcement, courts and corrections.
  • Articulate key concepts in criminology and criminal justice.
  • Prepare and present a paper orally using multimedia/technology.
  • Master content in upper-level specialization courses.

We offer several pathways across a range of specialties as one form of guidance for students in choosing courses. The pathways demonstrate sequences within and connections across the curriculum. It is not necessary for students to pursue a single pathway in depth, but many will find it worthwhile to do so. See course selection advice based on pathways.

Specialty pathways include the following:

  • Business and Corporate Law
  • Commercial Law
  • Constitutional Law
  • Criminal Law
  • Environmental, Land Use and Natural Resources Law
  • Family Law
  • Health Law
  • Intellectual Property, Innovation and Technology
  • Labor and Employment Law
  • Law and Social Inequality
  • Litigation
  • Real Estate Law
  • Tax Law

Required Courses

Upon successful completion of Seattle University Law’s JD program, you will obtain the ability to think like a lawyer, possess a basic proficiency in lawyering skills and understand the professional, ethical and moral values and responsibilities of law-trained individuals.

Legal analysis, knowledge, and problem-solving

Outcome 1

Graduates will be able to:

  • Integrate information from multiple sources (e.g., opinions, statutes, regulations, rules, scholarly analysis) to identify operative legal rules, principles and concepts.
  • Retain a working knowledge of essential rules, principles and concepts.
  • Articulate and deploy these rules, principles, and concepts in a variety of contexts.

Outcome 2

When presented with a problem, graduates will be able to:

  • Generate legal arguments, plans, and strategies that link pertinent legal authority to legally significant facts.
  • Identify, assess and discuss relevant policy arguments.
  • Make reasoned judgments as to the likely success of competing legal arguments and alternative courses of action in light of client objectives or other goals.

Outcome 3

Graduates will be able to:

  • Describe the primary formal structures and processes of the American legal system,
  • Recognize and critically describe the influence of extra-legal factors, such as politics, history and culture, on the legal system and
  • Develop and advance solutions to important social problems, demonstrating:
  • Commitment and capacity to improve the quality of and access to the justice system for all members of society;
  • Awareness of lawyers' varied roles; and
  • Understanding of effective leadership and collaboration.

Lawyering skills

Outcome 4

Graduates will be able to communicate effectively, demonstrating the ability to:

  • Produce clear, well-organized, properly sourced written work tailored to audience and objectives; and
  • Make oral presentations and engage in other verbal interactions in a manner that is appropriate to the circumstances, respectful of other actors and well-designed to achieve objectives.

Outcome 5

Graduates will be able to:

  • Design and execute plans for developing facts necessary to achieve lawyering objectives;
  • Use legal analysis to develop a legal research strategy, efficiently search a variety of resources and identify, evaluate and analyze information to resolve specific issues.

Outcome 6

In addition to the fundamental skills identified immediately above, graduates will also possess a set of additional lawyering skills (e.g., litigation skills, transactional skills, policy advocacy) that demonstrate their readiness to enter the profession.

Outcome 7

Graduates will be able to perform their lawyering tasks consistent with professional ethical requirements and with the cultural competence necessary for effective, respectful interaction with individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Learner skills

Outcome 8

Graduates will demonstrate the capacities to:

  • Reflect on and learn from experience;
  • Apply skills and knowledge learned in one context to other relevant contexts; and
  • Assess and promote the development of their professional knowledge, skills, and values.

Adopted April 4, 2017

What You’ll Learn

Learn about the classes you’ll take as a student here.

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Support for Your Development

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Internships for Career Preparation

While internships are not required for academic credit, there are a wide range of internship and employment opportunities in criminal justice at the local and national level.

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Top-Notch Clinical Legal Training Program

We offer an unparalleled experiential training program. From your first day, you'll learn to apply your classroom learning in situations helping real clients with real legal problems.

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Crime and Justice Research Center

We recognize that crime and its prevention, response and reparation are community concerns. We address those through the integration of perspectives, strategies and approaches based on evidence-based practices and collaborative engagement.

Move Your Career Forward with a Criminal Justice Degree

Grounded in social justice, our interdisciplinary master’s in criminal justice offers a comprehensive, rigorous and analytic study of crime and the societal responses to it.

As one of the best colleges for criminal justice, you’ll experience an Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences aligned program and learn from renowned faculty members.

Along with joining a program that’s highly respected, you’ll train in a program with a special emphasis on criminal justice ethics, diversity, critical thinking and leadership.

Customize your program to advance your career goals with one of the following specializations:

  • Criminal justice research and evaluation
  • Victimology
  • Investigative criminology

TOP-RATED JD DEGREE

Earn your law degree in a top-rated JD program. With a solid grounding in legal theory and philosophy, practical training and experiential learning, you will be prepared to pass the bar exam and practice law effectively.

Our innovative approach to legal education combines exceptional teaching by a distinguished faculty with a variety of experiential learning opportunities.

With a solid grounding in legal theory and philosophy, you'll learn to apply your classroom learning in situations helping real clients with real legal problems.

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Get in Touch

If you have any questions about the program or application, we’re here to help.

Destiny Ledesma

Senior Admissions Counselor

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