Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary

Median salary

$76,590

Average salary

$87,550

Employment

13,150

Projected growth

2% growth

Annual openings

1,200

Typical entry education

Doctoral or professional degree

What Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary Do

Teach courses in criminal justice, corrections, and law enforcement administration. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

See full salary breakdown & percentiles →

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None
Self-employed: Not available

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

How Much Preparation Does This Take?

Job Zone 5 of 5

Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed

Experience: Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience.
Education: Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Job training: Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Source: O*NET Job Zones.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

Education and Trainingimportance 4.5/5
English Languageimportance 4.5/5
Law and Governmentimportance 4.5/5
Public Safety and Securityimportance 4.4/5
Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.9/5
Computers and Electronicsimportance 3.8/5
Administration and Managementimportance 3.7/5
Psychologyimportance 3.6/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

E-Mail5.0/5
Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.9/5
Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals4.7/5
Freedom to Make Decisions4.6/5
Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.5/5
Contact With Others4.5/5

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

History Teachers, Postsecondary100% skill match
English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary99% skill match
Anthropology and Archeology Teachers, Postsecondary99% skill match
Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary99% skill match
Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary99% skill match
Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary99% skill match
Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary99% skill match
Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary99% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

Instructingimportance 4.0/5
Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.6/5
Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.1/5
Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.1/5
Systems Analysisimportance 3.1/5
Time Managementimportance 3.1/5
Service Orientationimportance 3.0/5
Coordinationimportance 2.9/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Hot Technologies

In-Demand Technologies

Learning management system LMS

Other Software Used

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

Dependability
Intellectual Curiosity
Integrity
Social Orientation
Achievement Orientation
Cooperation
Attention to Detail

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

SocialHigh
InvestigativeMedium
ConventionalMedium
EnterprisingMedium
ArtisticMedium
RealisticLow

This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).

1Rocky Mount, NC11.26× national avg
2Columbia, MO6.26× national avg
3Greensboro-High Point, NC4.71× national avg
4Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC4.41× national avg
5Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL3.64× national avg

Possible Career Moves

A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.

Law Teachers, PostsecondaryLateral Move
Political Science Teachers, PostsecondaryLateral Move
Sociology Teachers, PostsecondaryLateral Move
Social Work Teachers, PostsecondaryLateral Move

See the full career path from Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary →

Related Education Programs

Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.