Corrections

Types of Degrees Corrections Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	2,727
Associate Degree	411
Bachelor’s Degree	257
Undergraduate Certificate	51
Master’s Degree	2
Graduate Certificate	1

What Corrections Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, corrections 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 Corrections Majors

Corrections majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• 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.
• 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.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

Skills for Corrections Majors

When studying corrections, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• 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.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Corrections Majors

As a corrections 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.
• 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.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

What Can You Do With a Corrections Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with corrections:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Professors	12.1%	$61,900
First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	6.6%	$89,030

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Corrections?

This major is dominated by women with about 66% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	8
Black or African American	40
Hispanic or Latino	58
White	129
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	20

Geographic Diversity

Corrections appeals to people across the globe. About 0.8% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Corrections

Some careers associated with corrections require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to corrections have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	50.6%
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)	7.2%
Some College Courses	10.5%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	11.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	7.8%
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.	0.5%
Master’s Degree	7.6%
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.	1.4%
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.	0.3%
Doctoral Degree	4.0%

Online Corrections 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)	57	4
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	114	15
Bachelor’s Degree	2	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	2	1
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Corrections

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

Major	Number of Grads
Criminal Justice Studies	44,029
Criminal Justice	27,988
Criminal Justice & Police Science	20,024
Other Corrections & Criminal Justice	4,118
Criminal Justice and Corrections, General	2,000
Securities Services Administration/Management	696
Security & Loss Prevention Services	500
Law Enforcement Investigation & Interviewing	269
Corrections Administration	104
Protective Services Operations	57
Juvenile Corrections	56
Critical Incident Response/Special Police Operations	12

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.