Joint Degree in Law + Criminal Justice
Earn your law and criminal justice graduate degrees in an accelerated period of study, generally four years. This joint degree is designed to prepare law students to work as counsel to criminal justice or social service agencies, or more generally, for those who want to complement their legal education with a broader public policy background through the study of criminal justice.
Admissions
The program is jointly administered by the College of Law and the College of Health and Human Services' graduate Criminal Justice Program. You must apply and be admitted separately to each college. Academic advising is provided by each college in collaboration with the College of Graduate Studies. The decision to admit or not to admit is based solely on each college's selection criteria. The graduate Criminal Justice Program will accept your GRE or LSAT score.
Tuition & Scholarships
If you enroll in both colleges in any semester, the highest tuition rate will apply to all credit hours taken. We encourage you to explore how a joint degree may impact your financial aid or scholarships. College of Law scholarship funds cannot be used to cover coursework outside of the law school.
Integrated Curriculum
Juris Doctor
The College of Law requires the successful completion of 89 credit hours to earn your J.D. degree. You may apply up to 12 credit hours completed in the criminal justice master's degree toward this requirement. For a criminal justice master's degree course to qualify for credit toward your J.D. degree, you must earn a grade of B (3.0) or better. Under American Bar Association guidelines, criminal justice master's degree course work must be taken after your initial enrollment in the College of Law to be eligible for credit toward the J.D. degree.
Master of Arts in Criminal Justice
You may apply up to 6-9 credit hours of approved, upper-level courses in the College of Law toward requirements for your M.A. in criminal justice. For a law course to qualify for credit toward your criminal justice master's degree, you must earn a C (2.0) or better in a graded course and a “pass” or better in an ungraded course. Review credit requirements from the current UToledo graduate catalog for the Criminal Justice Program within the College of Health and Human Services.
Awarding of Degrees
You will not receive a J.D. or M.A. in criminal justice until you complete all the work required for both degrees. If you withdraw from the joint degree program and remain in either the College of Law or the graduate Criminal Justice Program, you shall only receive credit for work in the other college as the Dean authorizes under the rules of that college. Degrees must be awarded within time limits established by the participating colleges.
Contacts
Gregory Gilchrist
College of Law
Professor of Law and J.D./M.A. in Criminal Justice Program Advisor
419.530.2712
Gregory.Gilchrist@utoledo.edu
Rebecca Zietlow
College of Law
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
419.530.4107
Rebecca.Zietlow@utoledo.edu
Dr. Richard R. Johnson
Criminal Justice Program
Graduate Program Director, Criminal Justice
419.530.4639
Richard.Johnson4@utoledo.edu
NOTE: The College of Law recommends that you remain apprised of academic requirements for each degree you pursue. While we make every effort to maintain timely information relating to joint degree programs, because other colleges manage their curricula and requirements, it is possible that information on this site could be out of date. For additional information, please review the other college's website.