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The online master’s degree program in criminology and criminal justice at Arizona State University continues for an eighth consecutive year as one of the nation’s top 10 such courses of study, according to U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings announced. The online Master of Arts degree program earned a No. 7 ranking for 2022.

ASU’s No. 7 ranking is higher than those of the University of Cincinnati, the University of Nebraska-Omaha, the University of Central Florida and the University of Oklahoma.

• Read more about ASU's criminal justice online graduate degree program ranks in US News' top 10

Jeff McClelland was a dedicated and accomplished executive at the time of his death in 2006. A new scholarship his family has established in his name honors his great respect for higher education and demonstrates their commitment to the criminal justice profession.

Each year the Jeffrey D. McClelland Scholarship will support a graduate student working in the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions-based Center for Correctional Solutions at Arizona State University.

• Read more about New scholarship to assist graduate students' work at ASU Center for Correctional Solutions

Christopher Rearley spent his life beating the odds. He was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at age 6 and was permanently using a wheelchair by 11. By the time he started college at 18, his doctors, knowing that his breathing capacity was only 20% of normal, said he would live only months, a year at most.

That prediction didn’t hold up. He started community college, then came to Arizona State University, defying his doctors’ prognosis.

• Read more about For 12 years, parents memorialized son with annual tournament for ASU scholarships

The logistical challenges of teaching a class inside a state prison are complicated enough during a typical semester, let alone one that includes a pandemic.

This spring, an Arizona State University professor and a doctoral student were instructing 10 students based at the Downtown Phoenix campus, plus 10 more who happen to be men serving criminal sentences at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Florence.

• Read more about Quick thinking keeps instruction going for incarcerated students in ASU's 'Inside-Out' class