The program emphasizes research methods and theoretical perspectives in criminal justice and criminology with substantive course work in international criminal justice, social control systems and criminal justice policy.

Students earning a MCJC undertake a course of study that prepares them to teach at the community college level or engage in criminal justice research in government or non-profit agencies; it also prepares them for further academic work in a doctoral degree program; or to work in the field of criminal justice as a researcher or policy analyst. Students in the MCJC program are generally full-time students (taking 9 graduate units) who expect to finish the 30-unit degree in two years. For students who have not had experience in the criminal justice field an internship. Students can either complete a faculty supervised independent research leading to a thesis as part of their degree requirements or take a comprehensive final examination.