Ph.D. Programs in Criminal Justice

University of Maryland, College Park

• The University of Maryland program received the highest ranking for 2009 in criminology doctoral programs. Maryland's criminal justice doctorate provides a thorough grounding in theory and research methods, and allows students to specialize in a specific area of criminology or criminal justice. Faculty members at Maryland are among the most frequently cited criminal justice scholars, according to a study of published research in the field. In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed Maryland Professor John Laub to head the U.S. Justice Department's National Institute of Justice.

  Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice
  University of Maryland College Park
  College Park, MD 20742-8235
  (301) 405-4699
  ccjs.umd.edu/

State University of New York, Albany

• SUNY at Albany received the number 2 ranking in the U.S. News study of leading Ph.D. programs in criminal justice. The school's Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center has an extensive program of ongoing research projects, including adolescent crime, incarceration and life outcomes, the Rochester Youth Development Study and the use of criminal justice statistics. SUNY Albany also houses two leading criminology journals: The Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture and the Journal of Quantitative Criminology.

  School of Criminal Justice
  State University of New York, Albany
  135 Western Avenue
  Albany, NY 12222
  (518) 442-5214
  albany.edu/scj/grad.htm

University of Cincinnati

• Students in Cincinnati's School of Criminal Justice, ranked third by U.S. News, prepare for careers in research, law enforcement, corrections and the legal profession. The school's Center for Criminal Justice Research is a nationally respected research organization, staffed by nationally recognized criminal justice experts. For graduate students, the center offers extensive research opportunities.

  College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services
  University of Cincinnati
  PO Box 210002
  Teachers/Dyer Hall
  Cincinnati, OH 45221
  (513) 556-5827
  criminaljustice.cech.uc.edu/

University of Missouri, St. Louis

• The Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at St. Louis received the fourth-highest ranking from U.S. News. The program offers seminars featuring nationally known criminologists. The school's graduates have gone on to tenure-track positions in the competitive academic job market.

  Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice
  324 Lucas
  One University Blvd.
  St. Louis, MO 63121-4499
  (314) 516-5031
  umsl.edu/~ccj/

Pennsylvania State University

• The graduate program in Crime, Law and Justice at Penn State, ranked fifth in the U.S. News ranking, has a strong reputation for producing outstanding criminal justice scholars. Student-authored papers have won national competitions, and students have won national dissertation fellowships. The criminal justice program is part of Penn State's sociology department, enabling students to study criminology and criminal justice from an interdisciplinary perspective. Faculty members in the program have published original research in leading peer-reviewed criminology journals, including the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, and Justice Quarterly.

  Department of Sociology & Crime, Law and Justice
  211 Oswald Tower
  The Pennsylvania State University
  University Park, PA 16802
  (814) 865-2527
  sociology.psu.edu/index.shtml