Accelerated Bachelor's/Master's Program

The Accelerated Bachelor's/Master's Program is designed to allow students to complete both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Criminal Justice in five years.  Ordinarily, completion of both degrees would take six years.

To be eligible for the Accelerated Bachelor's/Master's Program, students must:

• Have completed at least 60 credit hours with at least 24 credit hours remaining in your undergraduate program;
• Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0; and
• Meet with the Criminal Justice Department Graduate Coordinator (Dr. Lori Elis, lelis@radford.edu).

To apply to the Accelerated Bachelor's/Master's Program:

• Submit an Accelerated Degree form (pdf file) and a 500-word statement of interest.
• Complete the Graduate College Admission Application, including submission of transcripts of coursework at institutions other than Radford University and a $40 application processing fee;
• Have two references submit a Recommendation Form to the Graduate College (only one reference may be a Radford University criminal justice faculty member); and
• Submit an original writing sample of five typed pages with appropriate references, on "the most important current problem in criminal justice."

If accepted to the Accelerated Bachelor's/Master's Program, you will:

• Take 12 hours of graduate courses that count toward both your bachelor's and master's degree (Master of Arts or Master of Science); and
• Receive your degree with 122 credit hours and your MS degree with an additional 24 graduate credit hours.  Therefore, you can earn both your BS and MS with a total of 146 credit hours.  In a traditional program, you would need 156 credit hours.
• To view a "model" Accelerated BS/MS curriculum, click here (pdf file).
• To receive your master's degree, you must satisfactorily complete all requirements of the master's degree program.  For information about criminal justice master's degree courses and requirements, click here.

Please carefully review the Accelerated Program policies stated in the Graduate Catalog (pages 52-53 of the 2007-2008 edition).

** Pdf files may be viewed using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader (Download Free Acrobat Reader).

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