Law Enforcement & Firefighting

Types of Degrees Law Enforcement & Firefighting Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many homeland security, law enforcement & firefighting graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	59,550
Associate Degree	33,718
Basic Certificate	26,306
Undergraduate Certificate	6,956

What Law Enforcement & Firefighting Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, homeland security, law enforcement & firefighting majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Skills for Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Majors

A major in homeland security, law enforcement & firefighting prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Majors

Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Law Enforcement & Firefighting Major?

People with a homeland security, law enforcement & firefighting degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Criminal Investigators and Special Agents	4.5%	$81,920
Fire Inspectors	7.3%	$62,510
Fire Investigators	7.3%	$62,510
First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	6.6%	$89,030
First-Line Supervisors of Protective Service Workers	4.7%	$49,640
Forest Fire Fighting and Prevention Supervisors	7.1%	$76,330
Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists	29.4%	$39,600
Forest Firefighters	7.2%	$49,620
Immigration and Customs Inspectors	4.5%	$81,920
Intelligence Analysts	4.5%	$81,920
Municipal Fire Fighting and Prevention Supervisors	7.1%	$76,330
Municipal Firefighters	7.2%	$49,620
Police and Sheriff’s Patrol Officers	7.0%	$61,380
Police Detectives	4.5%	$81,920
Police Identification and Records Officers	4.5%	$81,920
Police Patrol Officers	7.0%	$61,380
Private Detectives and Investigators	10.6%	$50,090
Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs	7.0%	$61,380
Transit and Railroad Police	8.2%	$74,030

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Law Enforcement & Firefighting?

Roughly 49% of the graduates are women, and 51% are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of homeland security, law enforcement & firefighting majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	943
Black or African American	3,963
Hispanic or Latino	11,452
White	14,353
International Students	151
Other Races/Ethnicities	2,856

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting, too. About 0.4% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Law Enforcement & Firefighting Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $53,240 to $85,020 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Law Enforcement & Firefighting

Some careers associated with homeland security, law enforcement & firefighting require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to homeland security, law enforcement & firefighting have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	1.0%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	23.1%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	10.1%
Some College Courses	12.9%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	12.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	29.6%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	2.1%
Master’s Degree	7.7%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.4%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.4%
Doctoral Degree	0.8%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.1%

Online Law Enforcement & Firefighting Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	1,662	226
Certificate (2-4 Years)	30	0
Associate’s Degree	4,474	866
Bachelor’s Degree	536	234
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	1,246	554
Post-Master’s	42	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	114	36
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	2	2
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Law Enforcement & Firefighting Worth It?

The median salary for a homeland security, law enforcement & firefighting grad is $72,390 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 81% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $649,800 after 20 years!

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Barry Bahler under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.