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School of Criminology | Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Simon Fraser University Calendar | Spring 2025

Criminology

Master of Arts

The School of Criminology offers a master of arts (MA) with research topics in criminology, criminal justice, forensics, and law.

Admission Requirements

Applicants must satisfy the university admission requirements as stated in Graduate General Regulations 1.3 in the SFU Calendar. Students admitted to the program normally will have completed one intermediate criminology theory course and two intermediate research methods courses (one quantitative and one qualitative) before admission to the master of arts (MA) program in preparation for undertaking graduate course work.

English Language Competence

English is the language of instruction and communication at the university. Accordingly, an applicant whose primary language is not English must demonstrate command of English sufficient to pursue graduate studies in the chosen field. Please refer to the Graduate General Regulations (1.3.3 English Language Competence) for minimum language requirements and further information.

Note that the minimum English language test scores required for this program are higher than the minimum test scores accepted for entry into Graduate Studies at SFU. For details, visit the School of Criminology website.

Program Requirements

This program consists of courses and a thesis for a minimum of 36 units.

Students must complete

CRIM 800 - Criminological Theory I (3)
CRIM 860 - Research Methods I: Research Design (3)
CRIM 861 - Research Methods II: Quantitative Methods (3)
CRIM 862 - Research Methods III: Qualitative Methods (3)

and six units of graduate courses offered by the School of Criminology

and a thesis

CRIM 898 - MA Thesis (18)

Program Length

Students are expected to complete the program requirements in 6 terms (2 years).

Other Information

Thesis

The original MA thesis includes an oral defence and is typically 50 to 100 pages in length, including bibliography and footnotes, but exclusive of appendices.

Satisfactory Performance

The candidate's progress is assessed once per year by the school. A student who performs unsatisfactorily is not permitted to continue in the program, subject to the review procedure described in Graduate General Regulation 1.8.2.

Academic Requirements within the Graduate General Regulations

All graduate students must satisfy the academic requirements that are specified in the Graduate General Regulations, as well as the specific requirements for the program in which they are enrolled.