Criminal Justice

 

Types of Degrees Criminal Justice Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many criminal justice graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	13,825
Associate Degree	10,992
Basic Certificate	3,101
Undergraduate Certificate	724

What Criminal Justice Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to criminal justice and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Criminal Justice Majors

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

• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.
• 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.

Skills for Criminal Justice Majors

criminal justice majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• 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.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Criminal Justice Majors

As a criminal justice major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• 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.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• 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.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a Criminal Justice Major?

People with a criminal justice degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	6.6%	$89,030

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice?

This major is dominated by women with about 57% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of criminal justice majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	482
Black or African American	1,071
Hispanic or Latino	5,571
White	3,080
International Students	40
Other Races/Ethnicities	748

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Criminal Justice, too. About 0.4% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Criminal Justice Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $72,390 to $115,590 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to criminal justice. This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

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 Criminal Justice

Some degrees associated with criminal justice may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for criminal justice careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	14.4%
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)	5.7%
Some College Courses	7.3%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	10.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	38.1%
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.	0.8%
Master’s Degree	18.1%
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.	2.2%
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.	0.9%
Doctoral Degree	2.9%

Online Criminal Justice 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)	91	15
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	374	73
Bachelor’s Degree	43	13
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	150	78
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	11	3
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Criminal Justice Worth It?

The median salary for a criminal justice grad is $93,100 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 133% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $1,064,000 after 20 years!

Trades Related to Criminal Justice

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to criminal justice.

Major	Number of Grads
Criminal Justice Studies	46,895
Criminal Justice & Police Science	20,976
Other Corrections & Criminal Justice	3,988
Corrections	3,042
Criminal Justice and Corrections, General	1,323
Securities Services Administration/Management	797
Security & Loss Prevention Services	685
Law Enforcement Investigation & Interviewing	277
Corrections Administration	143
Juvenile Corrections	97
Protective Services Operations	19
Critical Incident Response/Special Police Operations	0

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

More about our data sources and methodologies.