Sul Ross State University
A Member of the Texas State University System

Dual Degree Program in Criminal Justice
and Public Administration

This program is not available in a fully on-line format - Public Administration courses must be taken in person.

Students enrolling in the dual degree program will take all of the required courses for both programs and a series of electives which will be determined through consultation with an advisor. The total course of study will be 54 hours, with 18 hours shared between the two degrees. Upon completion of the course of study, the student will receive an MS in Criminal Justice and an MA in Public Administration.

The following courses are required for this course of study:

• CJ 5301, Overview and Administration of CJ
• CJ 5304, Seminar on Liability and Immunity in CJ
• CJ 5315, Seminar in Courts and Judiciary
• CJ 5318, Seminar in Criminal Justice Theory
• CJ 5325, Graduate Seminar
• PS 5303, Public Administration Survey
• PS 5310, Public Budget and Finance
• PS 5311, Intergovernmental Relations
• PS 5313, Public Policy Analysis

Either:

• PS 5307, Scope and Methods

Or:

• CJ 5334, Legal Research and Analysis in CJ

Students will also take at least two of the following:

• PS 5308, Case Studies in Public Administration
• PS 5312, Agency Politics
• PS 5314, Public Management
• PS 5315, Local Government Administration
• PS 5316, Special Topics in Public Administration

Students will also take 21 additional hours of electives from Criminal Justice and Public Administration. These electives should be determined through consultation with an advisor.

All Criminal Justice Graduate Courses are offered in an on-line format only

Why Get Two Degrees?

Knowledge of both the Criminal Justice and the Public Administration fields will improve you ability to interact with other professionals regardless of the field you choose. For example, if you are a jail administrator, there is a good chance that you will need to interact with a hospital. Knowing the way the hospital is run and the needs and demands of the hospital administration will help communications and will benefit both parties. The reverse is also true. Even if you are currently in one of these fields or if you plan to work in only one of these fields, having both degrees will still be a benefit.

A new trend in Criminal Justice, community-oriented-policing, is also bridging the gap between the Criminal Justice field and the other agencies that serve community needs. In order for officers to get out into the community and be effective at solving problems, they need the knowledge that both of these degrees will offer.

Having two Master's degrees will allow students to more easily enter Ph.D. studies at other universities, in either of the two fields. Persons looking to teach at the college or university level part-time while working or after retirement will especially benefit by broadening the areas in which they will be eligible to teach.