Combined Criminal Justices BS/MS

• Official Junior standing or higher as determined by credit hours
• Major GPA of at least 3.4 (at the time of application) including restrictive electives.
• Overall GPA of at least 3.2.
• Transfer students must have completed a minimum of 15 hours at FGCU with an earned FGCU GPA of 3.2 or higher.
• Students are required to consult with their undergraduate academic advisor to ensure they 
  meet these requirements prior to applying for the combined program and to also notify their 
  academic advisor of their intent to apply to this combined program. 

• First, submit a formal email, including your FGCU UIN, to Dr. Ladny at rladny@fgcu.edu indicating your interest in pursuing the combined B.S/M.S pathway. Dr. Ladny will check your academic record to make sure you meet the basic requirements. If so, you will be emailed a copy of this form if you have not already accessed it from the FGCU Criminal Justice Program website.
• Second, if you understand and agree with the conditions listed in this document, then please Email a personal statement of at least one double spaced page discussing your reason for pursuing graduate work in Criminal Justice, along with how the graduate program will be applied to your goals after completion. When sending this email with personal statement please make sure to include your UIN.
• Third, attain two letters of recommendation that support your admission into the combined B.S/M.S pathway/program in criminal justice. Letters of recommendations can come from professors, employers, internship supervisors and/or anyone who can attest to why you will make a strong candidate for graduate level course work. Letter writers should submit letters directly to rladny@fgcu. 

The Graduate Coordinator and additional faculty in the department will review applications. The Graduate Coordinator will communicate the decision to applicants through a formal email with a request to read and sign this form. The Graduate Coordinator will notify the Office of the Registrar to add the UGGR (UG-GR combined program) for accepted students.

• Candidates for the combined B.S./M.S. program will apply during their junior or senior year 
  (junior year preferably) by submitting application materials to the M.S. in Criminal Justice
  Graduate Coordinator at rladny@fgcu.edu.
• For students who plan to begin taking graduate classes in the spring semester:
  Candidates must have all application material submitted no later than September 29th in the previous fall semester.
• For students who plan to begin taking graduate classes in either the summer or fall
  semesters:
   Candidates must have all application material submitted no later than February 17th of the prior spring semester.

These deadline dates ensure the committee has enough time to properly review applications and communicate decisions in time for students to register for classes.

• The Graduate Coordinator and additional faculty in the department will review applications. The 
  Graduate Coordinator will communicate the decision to applicants through a formal email with a 
  request to read and sign this form. The Graduate Coordinator will notify the Office of the 
  Registrar to add the UGGR (UG-GR combined program) for accepted students.

•  Students accepted into the combined program are required to meet with the Graduate
  Coordinator (virtual) each semester to review their progress and to set a plan for upcoming 
  courses. Students are responsible for setting up these meetings and must send an email for a 
  meeting request to the graduate coordinator at rladny@fgcu.edu at some point during each 
  semester that they are enrolled. 
•  Students will remain classified as undergraduates until their bachelor’s degree is awarded,
  and students must apply for the M.S. in CJ Program within one semester before 
  graduating from the B.S. in CJ Program. Students should review the application requirements for the M.S. in CJ program by visiting: https://www.fgcu.edu/cas/departments/js/cjms/
• Students must meet all the requirements for admission into the M.S. program, including 
  minimum grade requirements for the graduate credits completed while at the B.S. level. Once 
  admitted into the M.S in CJ program, students will complete an additional 24 graduate credits 
  Coordinator to satisfy the M.S. in CJ requirements as outlined in the program catalog. The B.S. in CJ is 120 credits. The M.S. in CJ has 33 credits. 
•  12 credits will be double counted for the B.S. and M.S. in Criminal Justice program.
  These courses will substitute for courses in the Bachelor’s in CJ program as approved by the 
  undergraduate & graduate coordinator. Students will satisfy all other requirements for the 
  B.S. in CJ program, including required courses, restricted electives, additional electives, and 
  all university requirements. Total credits for the combined program will be 144 credit hours. 
•  Students must achieve an overall average of 3.0 for the 12 graduate credits taken while 
  at the undergraduate level.
• While at the undergraduate level, students must take at least 6 graduate credits from the 
  courses below and earn a grade of B or higher in these courses. Students can take more 
  than 6 credits of these courses if desired and approved by the Graduate Coordinator.

CCJ 5476 Mgmt. & Admin. of Justice (3)

CCJ 6485 Criminal Justice Policy (3)
CCJ 6606 Social Constructs of Crime (3)
CJL 5320 Legal Aspects of CJ Management (3)
CCJ 6707 Adv. Quantitative Research (3) or CCJ 6709 Advanced Qualitative Research (3)

*These courses are 5 of 8 required core courses for the CJ M.S Program as of fall 2025. It is possible that these required courses will change for students who are incoming after fall 2025, for  CJ. M.S Program and consequently the B.S./M.S in CJ Program.

The rest of the 12 credits not completed through the courses listed above can be met by 
successfully completing any restrictive elective graduate course with a prefix of CCJ, CJC, 
CJE, CJJ, CJL, and DSC.

•  Students are allowed to substitute a maximum of 9 credits of required core B.S classes.
  Ideally, students will not substitute more than 6 hours of required core B.S classes.
  Additionally, students are required to take CCJ 4015 Juvenile Justice System. CCJ 4015 is a core required B.S. in CJ class and cannot 
  be substituted.
• Regarding the 12 credits that can be counted as double: students are allowed to substitute a maximum of 9 credits of required  core B.S classes. Ideally, students will not substitute for more than 6 hours of required core B.S classes . Additionally, the decision to allow up to 9 credits of required core B.S classwork is determined by the program coordinator.
• Regardless of which core classes and elective classes are waived to allow for a double counting of 12 credit hours, students are required to take CCJ 3117 Theories of Criminal Behavior, and CCJ 3700 Methods in Criminal Justice Research. These two classes CCJ 3117, and CCJ 3700  are required and cannot be substituted unless there are unique circumstances that warrant one of these classes being allowed for substitution. This will be determined by the graduate coordinator.