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criminal justice and corrections, general

Types of Degrees criminal justice and corrections, general Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing criminal justice and corrections, general have the option of earning degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Certificate	36
Associate’s Degree	799
Bachelor’s Degree	709
Master’s Degree	631

What criminal justice and corrections, general Majors Need to Know

Coursework for criminal justice and corrections, general build a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that criminal justice and corrections, general graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

According to O*NET, a major in criminal justice and corrections, general emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Law and Government — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Public Safety and Security — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.
• Administration and Management — Importance 3.4 / 5; level 3.7 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

Skills emphasized by a criminal justice and corrections, general program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Active Listening — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Monitoring — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 3.8 / 7.

Abilities

The cognitive and physical abilities most relevant to criminal justice and corrections, general careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Problem Sensitivity — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Inductive Reasoning — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Deductive Reasoning — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, criminal justice and corrections, general graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Getting Information	4.5 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.4 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.4 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	4.3 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	4.2 / 7
Working with Computers	4.2 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.1 / 7
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards	4.1 / 7
Processing Information	4.0 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.0 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by criminal justice and corrections, general professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	✓
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	✓
Microsoft Access	Data base user interface and query software	—
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database	Data base user interface and query software	—
Microsoft Visio	Process mapping and design software	—
Word processing software	Word processing software	—
Email software	Electronic mail software	—
Microsoft Windows	Operating system software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for criminal justice and corrections, general graduates include:

• Law Enforcement Specialist
• Criminalist
• Investigator
• Police Officer
• Deputy
• Identification Officer
• Police Investigator
• Crime Scene Investigator (CSI)
• State Trooper
• Sheriff’s Detective
• Police Inspector
• Drug Enforcement Agent
• Border Patrol Agent
• Special Agent
• Safety Supervisor

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to criminal justice and corrections, general graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
High school diploma or equivalent	35.0%
Bachelor’s degree	29.6%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	11.5%
Some college courses	10.6%
Postsecondary certificate	7.3%
Master’s degree	3.3%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	1.7%
Doctoral degree	0.5%
Post-master’s certificate	0.2%
Less than a high school diploma	0.1%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in criminal justice and corrections, general?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 65% of criminal justice and corrections, general degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	1,413	65.0%
Men	762	35.0%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of criminal justice and corrections, general graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	920	42.3%
Asian	55	2.5%
Hispanic or Latino	323	14.9%
Black or African American	442	20.3%
American Indian / Alaska Native	20	0.9%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	11	0.5%
Two or More Races	85	3.9%
Race Unknown	300	13.8%
International Students	19	0.9%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do criminal justice and corrections, general Graduates Earn?

Federal data tracks median earnings of criminal justice and corrections, general graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Earnings tend to climb steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$40,812
4 years	$44,073
5 years	$49,815

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $49,815 — roughly 22% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online criminal justice and corrections, general Programs

Online study is tracked by IPEDS for criminal justice and corrections, general. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Associate’s	12	6
Bachelor’s	9	3
Master’s	2	0

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in criminal justice and corrections, general Worth It?

Looking purely at the federal earnings tracker, criminal justice and corrections, general graduates earn a median of $44,073 four years after completion — roughly 16% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	CIP Code
Criminal Justice and Corrections	43.01
Corrections Administration	43.0113
Corrections and Criminal Justice, Other	43.0199
Corrections	43.0102
Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration	43.0103
Criminal Justice/Police Science	43.0107
Criminal Justice/Safety Studies	43.0104
Criminalistics and Criminal Science	43.0111
Critical Incident Response/Special Police Operations	43.0119
Cultural/Archaelogical Resources Protection	43.0123
Cyber/Computer Forensics and Counterterrorism	43.0116
Financial Forensics and Fraud Investigation	43.0117

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.