Criminal Justice and Cybersecurity M.S. Degree
Online Master's Degree in Criminal Justice and Cybersecurity
Choose a Program of Study That Best Serves Your Career Goals
Gain the knowledge and skills you need to succeed in today's increasingly technical and global environment with a master's degree in criminal justice and cybersecurity from Salve Regina University. Offered in a flexible, fully online format, our program addresses the needs and requirements of justice and law enforcement leaders along with cybersecurity and intelligence specialists and business professionals.
With available concentrations in leadership, intelligence and cyberthreat management and response, our program enables practitioners, managers and leaders to choose a course of study that best serves their career goals. Outside the classroom, our dedicated criminal justice and cybersecurity faculty work closely with students to meet their individual needs while serving as career-focused mentors, helping students to build their professional network.
In addition to the master's degree, we also offer graduate certificates in cyberthreat management and response, intelligence and analysis tradecraft, and leadership in justice, allowing students to broaden and enhance their professional careers with topics that are current and relevant. And through our popular accelerated offerings, qualified Salve Regina undergraduates can earn their bachelor's and master's degrees in just five years.
Degree types
Master's (M.S.)
Combined B.A./M.S. pathway
Program format
Online
12 courses (36 credits)
Average time to complete
18-24 months
Application deadline
Rolling admission
Fall, spring and summer starts available
Salve Regina's master's degree in criminal justice and cybersecurity prepares students to achieve their academic and professional goals. Whether you're entering the workplace for the first time or you're working in the field and seeking to make yourself more impactful and effective as a practitioner and leader, our program will position you for success in your chosen field.
Michael Teeter, lecturer and program director, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology
The Salve Difference
Advance on Your Terms
Offered in a fully online format, our criminal justice and cybersecurity program delivers courses in seven-week modules, allowing students to progress rapidly through their master's degree. This modality accommodates the time demands of professionals assigned varying shifts as well as those working or deployed throughout the U.S. and in other countries.
Practitioners as Teachers
With longtime experience in their profession, our faculty know their craft. Using a blend of academic and practice approaches, they teach not just theory, but also how it applies to the work our students are doing in their chosen field. Through small class sizes and personal attention, these dedicated faculty offer each student a high-touch educational experience.
Purpose-Driven Education
The evolving role of professionals in justice, government and industry demands innovative leadership that creates a culture and climate founded in respect, ethics and integrity. Guided by Salve Regina's mercy mission, our criminal justice and cybersecurity program prepares students to serve their communities with empathy and compassion.
Having the humanitarian values of Salve's mercy mission instilled throughout my education has allowed me to be more comfortable in providing empathetic services to victims. Salve is fostering a harmonious, just and merciful perspective on life. It was interesting to see this in the context of the law enforcement field, as it shaped the way I problem solve now in my everyday work.
Shane Bowes '20, '22 (M), Connecticut state trooper
Criminal Justice and Cybersecurity Curriculum
Salve Regina's 12-course (36-credit) master's degree in criminal justice and cybersecurity is designed to accommodate the unconventional schedules of working professionals, including those on overseas deployment. While this degree is offered in a flexible, fully online format, select courses may also be available at our Newport, Rhode Island campus.
Required courses:
- CJC506: Theories of Justice
- CJC514: Psychological Concepts for Justice Professionals
- CJC520: Effective Communication and Perspective Taking
- CJC532: Cyber Terrorism
- CJC563: Criminal Justice Research Methods
- CJC576: High Technology Crime
Students also choose an area of concentration (cyberthreat management and response, intelligence or leadership) or select six electives to shape an individualized program of study that meets their personal and professional goals.
Concentrations
Cyberthreat Management and Response
The concentration in cyberthreat management and response develops the knowledge and skills necessary to combat the threats posed by nation state sponsored and other criminal cyberattacks.
Cybersecurity and law enforcement professionals working in the private sector and at local, regional, state and international levels require an education that prepares them for challenges impacting cybersecurity and cyberthreats at home and abroad. In response, this concentration prepares students to earn the industry-leading fundamental cybersecurity certification and to apply foundational cyber intelligence and cybersecurity concepts through the required courses. Students then choose four electives to focus their cyber education in alignment with their needs, including security operations center work, forensics, intelligence, analysis and cyberthreat management.
Additional required courses:
- CJC534: Cyber Fundamentals
- CJC543: Cyber Intelligence
Students also choose four of the following:
- CJC526: Principles of Digital Forensics
- CJC530: Cyberthreat Analysis
- CJC531: Cyberthreat Management
- CJC537: Network Forensics and Incident Response
- CJC546: Insider Threat
- CJC556: Open Source Intelligence
- CJC570: Cybersecurity Law
- CJC579: State Sponsored Advanced Persistent Threats
- CJC581: Special Topics
- HCA530: Cybersecurity and Resiliency in Health Care Administration
Intelligence
The concentration in intelligence focuses on current conceptual and practical aspects of intelligence work and domestic and international terrorism.
Intelligence professionals need specialized investigative and analytic processes and tools to carry out their work in a way that is ethically sound while successfully safeguarding those they have responsibility for. In response, this concentration prepares them to gather information, analyze it and document it in a way that reduces the impact of their biases and improves the usefulness of the information to intelligence consumers and decision makers.
Additional required courses:
- CJC519: U.S. Intelligence or CJC543: Cyber Intelligence
- CJC550: Intelligence Writing and Communicating
- CJC556: Open Source Intelligence
- CJC560: Structured Analytic Techniques
Students also choose two of the following:
- CJC518: Domestic and Global Challenges Shaping Public Policy
- CJC530: Cyberthreat Analysis
- CJC531: Cyberthreat Management
- CJC546: Insider Threat
- CJC579: Advanced Persistent Threat: Tactics, Techniques and Procedures
- CJC581: Special Topics
Leadership
The concentration in leadership develops the knowledge and skills necessary for success in today's challenging multicultural, technological and collaborative environment.
Professionals in the justice field are tasked with reducing and managing crime with limited resources, protecting the public, improving community perceptions, and organizing agencies and departments in a collaborative environment. They must establish and maintain high standards of integrity and ethical values, and lead in a way that reflects those values and strengthens their organizations.
Additional required courses:
- CJC518: Domestic and Global Challenges Shaping Public Policy
- CJC521: Critical Leadership Opportunities
- CJC524: Emergency Management and Critical Incident Response
- CJC528: Cultivating Organizational Culture
- CJC540: Executive Leadership Development
Students also choose one of the following electives:
- CJC531: Cyberthreat Management
- CJC581: Special Topics
- HCA530: Cybersecurity and Resilience in Health Care Administration
- MGT567: Creative Problem Solving
Building relationships and getting out of your comfort zone are some of the best skills Salve Regina instilled in me both personally and professionally. The program set me up for success by building practical experience via internships. I had the opportunity to intern for Raytheon's cybersecurity unit, which added tremendous value, both technical and non-technical, to my resume. I was fortunate to get a full-time job offer with a consulting company two months before I even graduated.
Jeremy Ventura '13, '14 (M), director of security strategy and field CISO, ThreatX
Learn More About Salve Regina's Online Master's Degree in Criminal Justice and Cybersecurity
Our master's degree in criminal justice and cybersecurity positions graduates for managerial and leadership success in the intelligence, justice and security sectors. Offered online with three concentration options, our program empowers working professionals to pursue their career on their terms.