MA Criminology, Law, and Justice at University of Illinois Chicago

Programme overview

Effective November 2025, the Department of Criminology, Law, and Justice has suspended admission to the Master's/PhD program for the Fall 2026 term. Please

Faculty: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | Study mode: full-time | Location: Chicago, IL, United States

What you will study

Minimum 40 semester hours required. Coursework only with comprehensive examination required. Required courses include Law and Society; Criminological Theory; Criminal Justice: Process and Institutions; Race, Class, and Gender Dimensions of Crime and Justice; Quantitative Methods and Design; Qualitative Methods and Design.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

Prior degree: Applicants must have a baccalaureate degree in criminology, law, and justice or a related field from an accredited college or university. GPA: At least 3.00/4.00. Tests: GRE not required. Letters of recommendation: Three required, preferably from professors familiar with student’s recent work or in case of the applicants with professional experience, from supervisors. Personal statement: Required; 2-3 pages. The statement should address the applicant’s reasons for wanting to take graduate work in criminology, law, and justice and the relationship of this advanced training to the applicant’s professional and other goals.

Tuition is charged per credit, so the total depends on the modules you register for each year. Current fees are listed in the official fee schedule.

Graduate and professional programmes admit for Fall, Spring and Summer terms depending on the programme; applications for Fall 2027, Spring 2028 and Summer 2028 are expected to open on August 1, 2026.

Graduate and professional application deadlines are set per programme, with separate deadlines for domestic and international applicants for most non-online programmes; optional earlier priority, recommended or fellowship dates apply to both. Applications are made through the UIC graduate application or a centralized application service for some professional programmes.

Apply through the official page: https://grad.uic.edu/admissions/

Explore more study programmes

Arts & Humanities