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Criminal Justice Major

Criminal Justice

14,266 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
2,792 Master's Degrees Annually
#28 in Popularity

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 13,153
Associate Degree 8,845
Master’s Degree 2,651
Basic Certificate 2,408
Undergraduate Certificate 732
Graduate Certificate 115
Doctor’s Degree 84

What Criminal Justice Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, criminal justice 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 Criminal Justice Majors

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

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  • 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

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to criminal justice:

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  • 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

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a criminal justice student include the following:

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  • 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
Compliance Managers 8.0% $107,480
Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Professors 12.1% $61,900
First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives 6.6% $89,030
Investment Fund Managers 8.0% $107,480
Loss Prevention Managers 8.0% $107,480
Regulatory Affairs Managers 8.0% $107,480
Security Managers 8.0% $107,480

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice?

13,153 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
58% Percent Women
51% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
This major is dominated by women with about 58% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 388
Black or African American 2,237
Hispanic or Latino 3,514
White 5,691
International Students 118
Other Races/Ethnicities 1,205

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Criminal Justice, too. About 0.9% of those with this major are international students.

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.

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

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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) 87 11
Certificate (2-4 Years) 1 0
Associate’s Degree 367 77
Bachelor’s Degree 47 17
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 154 80
Post-Master’s 2 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 11 3
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 0 0

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

Major Number of Grads
Criminal Justice Studies 44,029
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
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.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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