Criminal justice programmes cover policing, corrections, courts and the law that governs them — investigation, criminal procedure, constitutional limits on searches and arrests, ethics and the use of force. In Florida the subject is taught two quite different ways: as a short certified ACADEMY that qualifies you to be sworn, and as an academic degree that does not.
The degrees this program covers
46 Florida public institutions and 6,939 credentials in the 2023 federal award year — one of the largest footprints in the state. ⚠⚠ But look at the split, because it is the whole decision: 3,677 of those were CERTIFICATES of under a year, which is the basic recruit academy, against 2,229 bachelor's degrees, 437 associate degrees and 335 master's. ⚠⚠⚠ The academy is what makes you eligible to be sworn as an officer; the degree is not, and no degree substitutes for it. Conversely the academy is not a degree and carries no college credit at some institutions. ⚠ So the honest framing is that these are two separate purchases that happen to share a subject: buy the academy to get hired, and buy the degree for promotion, federal agencies, or a move into administration, analysis or law. Corrections is a substantial part of this footprint in its own right, with its own shorter academy. ⚠ Note that private and corporate security (CIP 43.04, 15 Florida institutions and 533 credentials) recruits from the same students but is not counted here — that code is not yet in the site's CIP tree.
Careers this program leads to
Each one sets out the courses along the way, the licence or certification at the end,
and the sources behind it.
Neighbouring fields that share much of the same coursework, and often the same employers.
⚠ Read these before you commit to a major — which doors a neighbouring degree
keeps open is the part no catalog tells you, and it is far cheaper to change now than later.
46 institutions awarded a credential in this field in 2023,
at these levels: Associate, Bachelor's, Certificate (<12 weeks), Certificate (1-2 years), Certificate (12 weeks-1 year), Doctorate (research/scholarship), Master's, Postbaccalaureate certificate.
A school appears here if it awards anything in the field, however limited
its offering — a technical college teaching only practical nursing has a nursing
program. Listed alphabetically, not ranked.
Source: federal IPEDS completions data for 2023, first majors only —
the most recent year published. ⚠ It records what was awarded, which is
strong evidence of what is offered, but a program launched since 2023
will not appear here. Check the institution’s own catalog before applying.
Updated 21 September 2026.
⚠ Program pages describe a field of study, not one school’s degree — always
read the catalog of the institution you are applying to.