This is an online program with a required one-week summer institute in Boston.

While this master's degree encourages worldwide student enrollments, it is not appropriate for international students who want to study in the U.S. on a student visa.

Massachusetts Quinn Bill approval is pending for this program.

Criminal justice and security agencies are under increased scrutiny—challenged to provide efficient and effective services, be transparent in their interactions with the public, and respond to changing local, national, and world conditions. To be successful, justice system leaders need to think strategically, communicate locally, and act ethically while developing comprehensive (and often multi-jurisdictional) solutions to crime and terrorism problems.

In response, Northeastern University's College of Professional Studies—in collaboration with the College of Criminal Justice—offers the Master of Science in Criminal Justice Leadership. This innovative online master’s degree provides a path to excellence for leaders in law enforcement, courts, private security, and corrections organizations. Academically distinctive, graduate courses in this program emphasize leadership, communication, and ethics—themes that are designed to enhance your leadership capacity and improve your career prospects. 

Program Objectives:
This criminal justice graduate degree has been carefully structured to develop your intellectual and leadership capacity—positioning you for career growth and advancement. In this graduate program, you will:

• Gain a better understanding of the increasingly complex criminal justice environment
• Understand the short- and long-term benefits of ethical decision making
• Identify and apply leadership theories and practices that contribute to the commitment of an effective, efficient, and equitable administration of public safety
• Build a personal model of leadership that can be put into action in the workplace
• Evaluate major substantive topics and criminal behavior trends, including street violence, gangs, guns, drugs, human trafficking, terrorism, and cyber crime
• Examine current and emerging anticrime strategies such as community policing, intelligence-led policing, and multijurisdictional intelligence fusion operations.
• Discover how technology can be utilized to prevent and respond to criminal activity