Do You Need a Degree to Be a Police Officer?
Usually not. 44 of the 47 state and district rules below set a high school diploma or GED as the minimum to become a police officer. Minnesota and Wisconsin require college, Alabama, Maine, Michigan and Texas reward it in the rule itself, and the District of Columbia’s police department accepts college credit as one of three routes. A department or a federal agency can ask for more than its state does, and the FBI asks for a bachelor’s degree.
Do You Need a Degree to Be a Police Officer in Your State?
A state sets its minimum through a standards board, a commission or a statute, and a police officer has to meet it to be certified or hired. The tables below give each rule under its own citation, linked to its official text. A department can add to its state’s minimum. Where a state has a page on this site, its row links to it for the state’s ranked programs.
States Where College Appears in the Rule
In two states the minimum itself is college: Minnesota and Wisconsin. In the others the minimum is a diploma or GED and the rule gives college a role, which the row describes in the rule’s own terms.
| State | What the rule says about college | Police officer rule |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | An associate degree or higher takes the place of the Basic Ability Test that diploma and GED applicants must pass. | Ala. Admin. Code r. 650-X-2-.03 |
| Arkansas | Twelve college hours with at least a C average substitute for a diploma or GED. | CLEST rule on Minimum Standards for Employment, Appointment, or Continued Employment |
| District of Columbia | The Metropolitan Police Department requires 45 college credits, two years of active-duty military service, or three years with a full-service police department. College credit is one of three routes into the department, and 15 academy credits through the University of the District of Columbia reach the 60-credit requirement. | Metropolitan Police Department police officer requirements |
| Idaho | Fifteen college credits are accepted in place of a high school diploma. | IDAPA 11.11.01.053.01 |
| Maine | An associate degree or 60 college credits lowers the academy entry age from 21 to 20. | Code of Maine Rules 16-227, Chapter 3 |
| Michigan | Recruits who enter the academy on their own need an associate degree, while agency-hired recruits need a diploma or GED. | Mich. Admin. Code R 28.14203 |
| Minnesota | Minnesota requires a postsecondary degree from a regionally accredited college or university, plus a board-approved peace officer education program. | Minn. R. 6700.0601 |
| New Hampshire | Two years of accredited postsecondary education are accepted in place of a high school diploma. | N.H. Admin. R. Pol 301.01 |
| New York The rule covers police officers of any county, city, town, village, housing authority or police district, and Department of Environmental Conservation police. | New York State Police applicants need a high school or equivalency diploma plus one of 30 college credit hours, military initial entry training or the MPTC basic course for police officers. | N.Y. Civil Service Law section 58(1)(b) The college provision |
| Oklahoma | The Collegiate Officer Program is a college route to certification, and the minimum stays a diploma or GED. | Title 70, section 3311 of the Oklahoma Statutes |
| Tennessee | Education earns equivalency points only for officers certified in another state. | Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1110-02-.03 |
| Texas | An associate degree or 60 college semester hours lets you be licensed at 18 instead of 21. | 37 TAC 217.1 |
| 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. | Wis. Admin. Code LES 2.01(1)(e) |
States With a High School Diploma or GED Minimum
The rest of the 47 rules set a high school diploma, a GED or the equivalent as the minimum, and none of them asks for a degree. A note under a state’s name says whose rule it is where it covers only some agencies.
Alaska to Missouri
Montana to Wyoming
| State | Police officer rule |
|---|---|
| Montana | MCA 7-32-303(2)(f) |
| Nebraska | 79 NAC 8-005.01H |
| Nevada | NAC 289.110(1)(d) |
| New Jersey | N.J.S.A. 52:17B-71b |
| New Mexico | NMSA 1978, Section 29-7-6(A)(2) |
| North Carolina Sheriffs’ deputies fall under a separate commission. | 12 NCAC 09B .0101 |
| North Dakota | N.D. Admin. Code 109-02-01-03(2) |
| Ohio | Ohio Adm.Code 109:2-1-03(D) |
| Oregon In this rule, law enforcement officer includes police, corrections, and parole and probation officers, so Oregon probation and parole officers share the same minimum. | OAR 259-008-0010(7) |
| Pennsylvania | 37 Pa. Code Chapter 203, Subchapter B |
| South Carolina | S.C. Code section 23-23-60(B)(2) |
| South Dakota | ARSD 2:01:02:01 |
| Utah | Utah Code 53-6-203(1)(c) |
| Vermont | Vermont Police Academy entrance standards |
| Virginia | Code of Virginia section 15.2-1705 |
| West Virginia | W. Va. Code section 30-29-14(a)(2) |
| Wyoming | W.S. 9-1-704(b)(v) |
Federal Law Enforcement Jobs and Their Education Rules
Federal agencies set their own standards, and several name a degree. The table gives what each agency’s own page says about education.
| Agency | What the agency says about education |
|---|---|
| FBI special agent | A bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited U.S. college or university, with one or two years of experience depending on the grade, and less of it for an advanced degree. |
| DEA special agent | A bachelor’s degree with a GPA of 2.95 or higher, a master’s degree or a law degree. Three or more years of work experience and special skills, such as a foreign language, is the other route. |
| Deputy U.S. Marshal | A bachelor’s degree in any field qualifies at grade 5. At grade 7 the degree needs superior academic achievement and a major related to law enforcement, and the page names criminal justice and criminology among them. A year of related graduate study also qualifies. |
| CBP officer | A bachelor’s degree in any field qualifies at GS-5, and a bachelor’s with superior academic achievement qualifies at GS-7. CBP wants the degree from an institution accredited by the U.S. Department of Education. |
| Federal Bureau of Prisons correctional officer | The careers page sets the entry standard at 30 semester hours plus a year of general experience, or two years of general experience. A direct-hire posting qualifies a bachelor’s degree in any field at GL-05 and graduate study in criminal justice, social science or a related field at GL-06. |
| U.S. probation and pretrial services officer | At least an undergraduate college degree. |
Where a Criminal Justice Degree for Police Officer Jobs Helps
If you’re set on patrol work, a degree isn’t what gets you hired in most states, and it still shows up in three places. First, in who you’re competing against.
“Many applicants for entry-level police jobs have completed some college coursework, and a significant number are college graduates.”
BLS on police applicants, Occupational Outlook Handbook, read on October 7, 2026
Second, in promotion. After the probationary period, advancement runs on exam and performance scores, and BLS adds a condition for the top of the ranks.
“Along with exam and performance scores, a bachelor’s degree may be required for advancement to positions of lieutenant or higher rank.”
BLS on promotion, Occupational Outlook Handbook, read on October 7, 2026
Third, in the neighboring jobs that do ask for one. BLS lists a bachelor’s degree as the typical entry-level education for probation officers and correctional treatment specialists, and Florida, North Carolina and Texas have a state rule that requires one:
- Florida: Florida requires a bachelor’s degree for correctional probation officers (Florida Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission employment requirements).
- North Carolina: North Carolina requires a bachelor’s degree for probation and parole officers (12 NCAC 09G .0209).
- Texas: Texas requires a bachelor’s degree to be appointed as a community supervision (adult probation) officer (Tex. Gov. Code section 76.005(b)).
A degree is not a peace officer license: the agency’s academy and the state’s own standards still apply. BLS says candidates for law enforcement appointment usually attend a training academy before becoming an officer. The police officer page covers the path and the pay, and patrol officers (SOC 33-3051) earned a median $76,210 in May 2025.
Which Degree Fits Police Work
BLS names security and protective service and social science as the common fields of degree for police applicants. The federal definition of the police science program says it “prepares individuals to perform the duties of police and public security officers,” and the criminal justice and safety studies program is one that “focuses on the criminal justice system, its organizational components and processes, and its legal and public policy contexts.”
Both are criminal justice programs, and each is ranked on this site: 683 ranked associate’s programs, which take about two years, and 745 ranked bachelor’s programs, which take four. The associate degree page and the bachelor’s degree page compare them on cost and graduates. Where a state wants a degree, its rule says which: Minnesota requires a postsecondary degree from a regionally accredited college or university, plus a board-approved peace officer education program.
Questions About Needing a Degree to Be a Police Officer
Do You Need a Degree to Be a Police Officer?
Can You Be a Cop Without a Degree?
Do Most Police Officers Have a Degree?
Which Degree Should You Get for Police Work?
Do You Need a Degree to Be a Detective or an FBI Agent?
Sources for the Police Officer Education Rules
- Awards, charges, completion and online enrollment: the Department of Education's IPEDS data: IPEDS completions and distance education, 2023-24; IPEDS tuition and fees and per-credit charges, 2023-24; IPEDS graduation rates; and IPEDS Outcome Measures and fall 2024 enrollment, from the 2024 provisional release. Programs are counted under the criminal justice codes in the federal CIP 43.01 series.
- Wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
- State rules: each state’s own standards board, commission or statute, linked from the rule’s citation in the tables, read on October 7, 2026.
- Education, promotion and training for police and detectives: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Police and Detectives, edition of August 27, 2026.
- Federal agencies’ education rules: the agency pages linked from the agency names above, read on October 7, 2026.
- Program definitions: NCES, Classification of Instructional Programs, 2020.