Law Enforcement Investigation and Interviewing

Types of Degrees Law Enforcement Investigation and Interviewing Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	118
Basic Certificate	42
Bachelor’s Degree	40
Graduate Certificate	35
Associate Degree	27
Undergraduate Certificate	7

What Law Enforcement Investigation and Interviewing Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to law enforcement investigation and interviewing were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Law Enforcement Investigation and Interviewing Majors

Law Enforcement Investigation and Interviewing majors often go into careers in which the following 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.
• 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.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.
• 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 Law Enforcement Investigation and Interviewing Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to law enforcement investigation and interviewing:

• 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.
• 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.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Law Enforcement Investigation and Interviewing Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a law enforcement investigation and interviewing student include the following:

• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• 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 Investigation and Interviewing Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with law enforcement investigation and interviewing:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Criminal Investigators and Special Agents	4.5%	$81,920
Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Professors	12.1%	$61,900
Police and Sheriff’s Patrol Officers	7.0%	$61,380
Police Detectives	4.5%	$81,920

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Law Enforcement Investigation and Interviewing?

This major is dominated by women with about 68% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of law enforcement investigation and interviewing majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	8
Hispanic or Latino	8
White	23
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	1

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Law Enforcement Investigation and Interviewing

Some careers associated with law enforcement investigation and interviewing 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.

Find out what the typical degree level is for law enforcement investigation and interviewing careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	31.9%
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)	13.2%
Some College Courses	16.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	15.8%
Bachelor’s Degree	8.2%
Master’s Degree	8.2%
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.	1.8%
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	5.4%

Online Law Enforcement Investigation and Interviewing 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)	2	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	6	0
Bachelor’s Degree	5	2
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	2	2
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 Law Enforcement Investigation and Interviewing

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to law enforcement investigation and interviewing.

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
Corrections	3,449
Criminal Justice and Corrections, General	2,000
Securities Services Administration/Management	696
Security & Loss Prevention Services	500
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.