Degree Outcomes
What Can You Do With a Criminal Justice Associate Degree?
What can you do with a criminal justice associate degree? Start work, move into a bachelor’s degree or build on police academy training, and the name of the degree says which it was made for. The 212 associate programs profiled on this site name 341 associate degrees: 136 are applied science degrees, 81 science and 71 arts. 118 of the 212 profiles quote a sentence about transferring to a bachelor’s degree, and 73 quote a link to a police academy or a peace officer standards board. BLS lists a high school diploma as the typical entry education for four of the six occupations here, so for those jobs the degree adds to the entry level.
Median earnings four years after completion College Scorecard
$47,175
340 of 683 ranked associate’s programs
Career Degrees and Transfer Degrees
The name of a criminal justice associate degree tells you what it was built for. The counting is plain. A degree is applied science, arts or science when its own name says so (Applied Science or A.A.S., Arts or A.A., Science or A.S.), and a name that says none of those, such as “Criminal Justice” or “Law Enforcement Technology,” is counted apart as a name with no type. A name counts as a transfer degree when it says transfer or ends in a transfer code such as AAS-T, AS-T or TTP.
| Degree name says | Degrees | Schools with one | Names that also say transfer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applied Science (A.A.S.) | 136 | 116 | 2 |
| Science (A.S.) | 81 | 63 | 18 |
| Arts (A.A.) | 71 | 68 | 8 |
| Name states no type | 53 | 36 | 6 |
136 of the 341 names say applied science, the largest group, and Southeast Community College Area in Lincoln, Nebraska shows how one college divides the work: “Our Associate of Applied Science degree is designed for those who want to start working right after graduation. If you want to transfer to a four-year college or university to pursue a bachelor’s degree, you will take the Associate of Arts degree path.” 152 names say arts or science, and 34 names across all four groups say transfer outright. An applied science degree can still lead to a bachelor’s degree, with a condition, as Salt Lake Community College in Salt Lake City, Utah says: “Students transferring with an AAS degree will be required to complete additional general education courses in order to complete a four-year degree.”
The names also say which field a criminal justice associate degree points toward. 55 degree names say law enforcement, police or peace officer, 19 say corrections and 4 say forensics, crime scene or investigations. 242 of the 341 degrees state a high school diploma or equivalent as the way in, the same starting point BLS lists for the first group of jobs below. A school’s field shows up in the rankings too: the law enforcement programs and the corrections programs each have a list of their own.
Jobs a Criminal Justice Associate Degree Can Lead To
BLS assigns every occupation a typical entry-level education. Of the six occupations on this site that carry BLS pay, a high school diploma is the typical entry education for four, with related experience for two of them, and a bachelor’s degree for the other two. The FBI’s special agent posting asks for a bachelor’s degree or higher as well. A criminal justice associate degree is added education for the first group and credits toward a bachelor’s degree for the second.
| Occupation | Typical entry education | Median pay, May 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Police and sheriff's patrol officers (SOC 33-3051) | High school diploma, no related work experience | $76,210 |
| Detectives and criminal investigators (SOC 33-3021) | High school diploma plus less than 5 years of related experience | $93,790 |
| Probation officers and correctional treatment specialists (SOC 21-1092) | Bachelor’s degree | $66,270 |
| Correctional officers and jailers (SOC 33-3012) | High school diploma | $58,940 |
| Private detectives and investigators (SOC 33-9021) | High school diploma plus less than 5 years of experience | $51,220 |
| Forensic science technicians (SOC 19-4092) | Bachelor’s degree | $72,060 |
Employers sometimes ask for more than the entry level. BLS says of police work, “Police and detective applicants must have at least a high school diploma or equivalent, although some federal agencies and police departments may require that applicants have completed college coursework or a college degree. Many community colleges and 4-year colleges and universities offer programs in law enforcement and criminal justice.” The police officer career page and the correctional officer career page set out how each job is entered.
Three sources in the site’s records name the associate degree itself. For forensic science technicians BLS says, “An associate’s degree may be sufficient for some positions.” Two state rules for the private investigator license count it toward the experience the license asks for. California’s rule counts “an associate degree in police science, criminal law, or justice and 2 ½ years (5,000 hours) of experience,” and Texas’s counts “an associate degree in criminal justice or related course of study, with twenty-four (24) months of investigation related experience.” The private investigator page and the crime scene investigator page carry the rest of those requirements, and the criminal justice careers hub lists every job with its pay.
Transfer From a Criminal Justice Associate Degree to a Bachelor’s Degree
118 of the 212 associate profiles quote a sentence about transferring to a bachelor’s degree, a four-year school or a university, and 40 of those name an articulation or transfer agreement, a 2+2 plan or a statewide pathway. A sentence about students transferring in from other colleges is not counted. Alexandria Technical & Community College in Alexandria, Minnesota puts the benefit in terms of standing: “The curriculum has been specifically designed so that students completing this pathway degree and transferring to one of the seven Minnesota State universities enter the university with junior-year status.”
Pikes Peak State College in Colorado Springs, Colorado ties its arts degree to a statewide agreement: “The Associate of Arts in Criminal Justice is designed for students intending to transfer to a four-year school and pursue a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. The Statewide Transfer Agreement will allow students to transfer to a Colorado public four-year school and complete their degree with an additional 60 credit hours.” Wytheville Community College in Wytheville, Virginia describes agreements with named destinations: “If students wish to pursue a four-year degree, many of the courses will transfer to a four-year institution. WCC has articulation agreements with some four-year institutions where the student can enroll as a junior.”
The credits move into bachelor’s programs that expect them. 26 of the 305 profiled bachelor’s programs include a degree-completion route that admits only students who bring college credit or an associate degree. The bachelor’s degree rankings compare the four-year programs, and the online bachelor’s rankings list the ones a transfer student can finish remotely.
Police Academy and Certification Links
73 of the 212 associate profiles quote a sentence that names a police academy, a corrections academy, basic law enforcement training or a peace officer standards board (POST), and 27 of them quote academy training counting as college credit. The links run two ways. In one, the academy sits inside the degree. College of Western Idaho in Nampa, Idaho says, “The College of Western Idaho Law Enforcement program includes an Idaho Peace Officers Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) Council approved Basic Patrol Academy.”
In the other, finished academy training becomes credit toward the degree. Carroll Community College in Westminster, Maryland says, “Current or former officers who have completed an approved state-certified police academy are qualified to receive up to 45 articulated credits at Carroll as approved by the Program Director.” Lorain County Community College in Elyria, Ohio gives a figure: “Candidates who successfully complete the Police Training Academy will receive 36 hours of college credit, which can be applied toward certificate or Associate Degree programs in the Public Safety program.” The police officers ranking puts the online programs that credit academy training in order.
The state rules for police hiring say what college credit does on the way in. This site records 47 of them, and 44 list a high school diploma or GED as the minimum. Minnesota and Wisconsin write more than that into it, and in Alabama, Maine, Michigan and Texas an associate degree or college credits change the rule:
| State | What the rule says |
|---|---|
| Minnesota | Minnesota requires a postsecondary degree from a regionally accredited college or university, plus a board-approved peace officer education program. |
| Wisconsin | Wisconsin requires an associate degree or at least 60 college credits, and an officer hired without them must have them by the end of the fifth year of employment. |
| Alabama | Alabama certifies officers who hold a high school diploma or GED and pass the Basic Ability Test, or who hold an associate degree or higher. |
| Maine | Maine requires a high school diploma or a passing score on an approved high school equivalency test. An associate degree or 60 college credits lowers the academy entry age from 21 to 20. |
| Michigan | Michigan requires a high school diploma or a passing GED score for recruits hired by an agency, and an associate degree for pre-service recruits. |
| Texas | Texas requires a high school diploma or a GED, and an associate degree or 60 college semester hours lowers the licensing age from 21 to 18. |
A degree is not a peace officer certification, and these rules change who can enter, at what age or after which test. The state-by-state guide gives every board’s rule, and the law enforcement rankings list programs built around the police track.
Online Criminal Justice Associate Degrees
142 of the 341 associate degrees the profiles name are offered online: 64 online only and 78 online or on campus, as each school’s own page states. 113 of the 212 profiles have at least one of them, and 58 of the 118 profiles that quote a transfer to a bachelor’s degree are among them. The site ranks 118 online associate’s programs that the schools’ pages put online, and the associate degree rankings lead with them, scored on cost, graduate earnings, completion and the other factors in the methodology.
What Graduates of a Criminal Justice Associate Degree Earn
College Scorecard publishes the median earnings of a school’s criminal justice and corrections graduates (federal field 43.01) at the associate level who received federal aid, four years after they finished. 340 of the 683 ranked associate’s programs have that four-year figure. The median of those schools’ own medians is $47,175, and the middle half of the schools fall between $43,133 and $53,329. The programs’ figures run from $24,848 to $72,849. Each figure covers every program a school reports in that field, so it describes the schools’ graduates together, not one job.
Common Questions
Is an Associate Degree in Criminal Justice Worth It?
Can You Be a Cop Without a Degree?
Do Most Police Officers Have a Degree?
Can a Criminal Justice Associate Degree Transfer to a Bachelor’s Degree?
Sources for the Figures in This Post
- Graduate earnings: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field-of-study data for Criminal Justice and Corrections (CIP 43.01).
- Program names, credit counts, formats, entry requirements and published prices: each school's own program pages, read between October 7, 2026 and October 14, 2026.
- Wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
- School pages quoted in this post, read on October 7, 2026, October 8, 2026 and October 12, 2026: Southeast Community College Area, Salt Lake Community College, Alexandria Technical & Community College, Pikes Peak State College, Wytheville Community College, College of Western Idaho, Carroll Community College and Lorain County Community College.
- Entry education and the sentences quoted from BLS and the hiring rules, read on October 7, 2026: BLS education and training assignments by occupation, the BLS profile of police and detectives, the BLS profile of forensic science technicians, California’s private investigator requirements, Texas’s private investigator experience rules and the FBI special agent posting.
- State police education rules, read on October 7, 2026: Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) (Minn. R. 6700.0601), Wisconsin Law Enforcement Standards Board (Wis. Admin. Code LES 2.01(1)(e)), Alabama Peace Officers' Standards and Training Commission (APOSTC) (Ala. Admin. Code r. 650-X-2-.03), Maine Criminal Justice Academy Board of Trustees (Code of Maine Rules 16-227, Chapter 3), Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) (Mich. Admin. Code R 28.14203) and Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) (37 TAC 217.1).