Criminal Justice and Police Science
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OverviewSalary and DebtCareersSchoolsRelated ProgramsGenderRace/Origin
Overview
Criminal justice and police science is a program that prepares individuals to perform the duties of police and public security officers, including patrol and investigative activities, traffic control, crowd control and public relations, witness interviewing, evidence collection and management, basic crime prevention methods, weapon and equipment operation and maintenance, report preparation and other routine law enforcement responsibilities.
Highlights
School with the highest reported median starting salary ($64K) with a Associate's Degree: Red Rocks Community College
Career with the highest median salary ($87K) associated with this program: Detectives and Criminal Investigators
Explore Pathways
Careers for program graduates
Criminal justice and police science majors work in these careers, which are sized by percentage of majors in the career (at least 1%) and colored by the predominant level of education.
Police OfficersLawyers, and judges, magistrat...Specialized ManagersProbation Officers and Correct...Elementary and Middle School S...Specialized Social WorkersDetectives and Criminal Invest...Correctional Officers and Jail...Security Guards and Gambling S...First-Line Supervisors of Offi...Paralegals and Legal Assistant...First-Line Supervisors of Reta...Customer Service Representativ...Secretaries and Administrative...First-Line Supervisors of Poli...Labor Relations SpecialistsPrivate Detectives and Investi...Retail SalespersonsWholesale and Manufacturing Sa...Accountants and Auditors
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Current completions
What level of degree do most graduates achieve, and do they match what your goals?
010K20K30K40K0-1 Year Certificate1-2 Year Certificate2-4 Year CertificateAssociate's DegreeBachelor's DegreePostbaccalaureate CertMaster's DegreeResearch Doctorate
SOURCES:
Completions over time
Have completions for criminology changed over time? Increasing completions may mean you'll likely have an easier time finding a school that offers this degree, with the opposite being true as well.
Show percentages
Number of graduates
010,00020,00030,00040,000200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
Research Doctorate
Master's Degree
Postbaccalaureate Cert
Bachelor's Degree
Associate's Degree
2-4 Year Certificate
1-2 Year Certificate
0-1 Year Certificate
Salary and Debt
How are students who recently completed a degree in criminal justice and police science doing?
Below is the distribution of starting salaries along with accumulated federal and private education loans across schools that offer a degree in the field criminal justice and corrections, which includes criminal justice and police science.
Median starting salaries
$34K$29K$35K$45K$0$20K$40K$60K$80KMaster'sBachelor'sAssociate'sCertificate
Median cumulative loan amount
$10K$18K$26K$40K$0$20K$40K$60KMaster'sBachelor'sAssociate'sCertificate
Careers
Recommended careers for those with a degree in criminology
Following are the jobs recommended for those who study Criminology (which combines 4 programs). These are listed in order of highest nationwide employment.
  1. Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
  2. Detectives and Criminal Investigators
  3. Private Detectives and Investigators
  4. Bailiffs
  5. Postsecondary Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers
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Recommended Careers for criminology majors
Is this degree preparing you for a career with a salary you want? Are there lots of openings in the near future? The Department of Education suggests these careers as a starting list, and Ididio hopes that if the career you're most interested in doesn't appear here, you will head over to our Career Explorer and learn more about paths to your best career.
Salary Spread
Salary distribution for people in this occupation
Median
Middle 50%
Middle 80%
How much school?
Education level of people in this occupation
No college
Some College
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Doctorate/Professional
Employed
The number of people employed in this occupation
Growth Rate
The projected percentage growth in employment for this occupation in 10 years
Annual Job Openings
The projected average number of job openings per year
Where can I complete this degree
Explore schools that offer criminal justice and police science degrees and certificates
You can use this table to find schools that offer this program based on location and program level offered. Each entry goes to a school page similar to this one with all our information about that school.
Understanding the columns

The school list includes a few facts about each school that give you an idea of the educational quality each school might offer:

  • Student-Faculty Ratio: A small number of students per full-time instructor suggests individual attention for each student and an up-to-date curriculum.

  • Satisfaction Rate: A high percentage of returning first-year students should correlate with satisfaction (schools call this their retention rate).

  • Repayment Rate: A high repayment rate means most alumni earn enough to make progress repaying loans within 7 years of leaving.

We also show the total enrollment for the school as measured by full-time-equivalent (FTE) students enrolled annually.

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Related Programs
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Careers for criminology majors
criminology is part of a larger collection of programs: Protective Services. Is there a different program that's close to criminology that might be a better match for your interests? You can use this table to see a little about the programs that fall under this umbrella. If you click on any of the table headers, that will sort the table by that column, or click on a row and see Ididio's profile for that program.
Gender
Gender of recent graduates
Of all people with any degree in criminal justice and police science earned in the last academic year, 36% were women.
Gender
Men
Women
SOURCES:
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Completions over time
Have completions by gender changed over time, or at specific levels of education?
Award level
All levels
010K20K30K40KNumber of graduates200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
Women
Men
Context: Gender representation
How does the gender distribution in this major compare to all other majors?
43%57%0%20%40%60%80%100%WomenMen
Context: Percentage women
This major has a lower percentage of women than 69% other programs.
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary with this degree? The closer the bar are, the less discrepancy there is.
$46K$58K$0$50K$100K$150K$200K$250KWomenMen
Context: Salary inequity
For criminology graduates, men have a 27% higher median salary than women, This is high: 80% of programs have graduates with lower salary inequities.
27%27%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Race/Origin
Race/Origin of recent graduates
Here is an overview of race/origin for all criminal justice and police science graduates from this last academic year. We found a lower percentage of international graduates than in 76% of other programs.
Race/Origin
White
Black
Pacific Islander
Hispanic
Asian
American Indian
Multiracial
Not Reported
International
SOURCES:
Fewer details
Completions over time
Have completions by race/origin changed over time, or at specific levels of education?
Award level
All levels
010K20K30K40KNumber of graduates200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
International
Not Reported
Multiracial
American Indian
Asian
Hispanic
Pacific Islander
Black
White
Context: Percentage of Minority Graduates
Minority students comprise a higher percentage of graduates than in 66% of other programs.