My son is thinking about majoring in criminal justice. I’m just wondering if this major is worth it in terms of jobs when he graduates. Thoughts??
In my area, it’s “worth it” only for a narrow set of jobs. My city does not require a college degree to become a police officer- but someone with a degree starts at a higher salary which escalates faster, and makes the person eligible for various promotions on faster timing. So probation officer, prison guard, law enforcement roles etc.-- yes, it’s "worth it’ as long as you don’t go into debt.
It is NOT a good major for someone interested in becoming a lawyer down the road, it is NOT a good major for someone interested in working in public policy , not a good major for someone interested in the FBI, Interpol, CIA.
What’s the interest???
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He is not sure, he is a high school senior and exploring options for the future. I’m just worried that although money isn’t everything I don’t want him coming out of college and not be able to afford the cost of living. We are from NYC.
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My brother earned an undergrad degree in criminal justice and a master’s later. He was an undercover narcotics cop for most of his early career, then became an FBI agent. He retired from the FBI after posing for years as a 14-year-old on the Internet and, finally, running a white-collar crime unit. He loved every minute of law enforcement work. It took him three tries to finally retire.
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What was his masters degree in?
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Don’t exactly remember, forensic-something-or-other. Law related with data analytics, I think.
I was surprised at how many criminal justice majors graduated with her (they were listed by major in the program). Her boyfriend was a criminal justice major.
I don’t think it is a good choice unless you want to work as a cop. If you want to work in investigations, I think a science would be better. Want to work for the FBI? Accounting.
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Have him look at University of New Haven. They have an outstanding Law Enforcement department, including Criminal Justice, Forensic Sciences, Homeland Security, Disaster Management and other majors.
U of New Haven has outstanding Law Enforcement- but fyi, despite the name it is a private U (people assume it’s part of the U Conn system and hence less expensive than private options). For an NYC resident concerned about costs, I’d be looking at John Jay over U New Haven.
But I think a kid needs to be committed to a career in law enforcement for one of these majors to make sense. “Exploring options” suggests a degree with a little more flexibility???
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For in-state families with a tight budget, I agree John Jay (most in-state publics for that matter) is a great option worth checking out. I wasn’t aware that costs were a significant restriction with the OP. Even if finances are restricted (like mine), it’s still worth a check on the NPC. 
Totally agree. There should be a button on CC that automatically posts “Do not do anything until you’ve run the NPC for this college, YMMV”. People post and we have no idea if their HH income is 50K per year, 350K per year, or 50K per year but the grandparents have set aside enough $ to fully fund 4 years of college!
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Cost isn’t a significant factor, I just don’t want to spend 40k a year for him to get a job making $20 an hour after graduation. I think he’s pretty set on university of Dayton at this time. Just trying to figure out if he should request a change in major?
As a practical matter, criminal justice can be a pretty limiting degree in terms of job opportunities. As a compromise of sorts, can he be “undeclared” and then sort things out along the way(as many college students do)?
And why University of Dayton? With no FA, that would be a very expensive degree-COA there is 62K/yr.
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Dayton because he has friends there, he went to visit and loved it and he thinks he will be happy there, which is a top priority for me. He also received a nice scholarship which brings the tuition down to about half of what you stated, which is still a large sun of money but is still cheaper then Penn state or some of his other options.
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And yes undeclared is definitely an option also!
WRT changing major at UD, it is fairly easy and straightforward between enrolling after acceptance and 1st day of classes. I know because S20 did it over the phone - we called admissions and asked the question, she called back later after checking with the new school about availability and his prereqs, and it was done.
Changing after a semester or two or three is also fairly easy and straightforward as long as the student is not looking to make a switch like Social Work to Mechanical Engineering or the Business School. The Business School has some required classes that would need to be made up and a minimum GPA required to transfer into.
But if a student wanted to switch from Criminal Justice to Political Science and his grades were not terrible, it should be a quick and painless process.
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https://www.fbijobs.gov/students/undergrad lists some of the career paths that the FBI is recruiting for. Some of them may be associated with college majors or general major areas.
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Criminal justice as a major is a waste of time for a 4-year degree, imo. If a student wants law enforcement, they should get an associates in criminal justice or a at least go to a very inexpensive college.
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Aside from the fact some areas give preference to applicants with degrees, another thing to keep in mind is it is easier to advance if you have a degree. I have family and close friends who were/are in law enforcement. All say having a 4yr degree was important to their progression and timetable through the ranks.
Also, some jobs, like the aforementioned probation/parole officer profession are appropriate for it. I have a friend who went from a p/t Big Brother type job he had while in college to being a probation officer, to starting a company that provided professional services for people/families whose counseling/care/assistance is now outsourced by the government.
He and his three partners now make $100K+/yr each and all started with degrees widely disparaged by some people. The government requires some of the outsource providers to be owned/headed by people with degrees. Also, the government requires some of the providers to have a BoD with degreed members.
Not all majors have a moving walkway to take graduates from diploma to high-paying 1st job like Engineering but that doesn’t make the non-STEM majors a “waste of time.” Most majors have a straightforward pathway from diploma to decent paying job to more, for students/graduates who put in the work.
Also, not every student is going to be a Master of Industry. Sometimes having a degree can be a safety net that ensures a floor that will provide a livable wage without the backbreaking or soulbreaking type of work that sometimes comes with jobs that don’t require a degree. That’s worth a lot.
That’s the backbone of middle-class America - dual-income households headed by two adults who earn a combined $75K-$110K. Those are the people with wasted degrees like Social Work, Criminal Justice, Education, etc.
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Regarding the FBI, it should be noted that all candidates must have two years of “professional” work experience or one year and an advanced degree.
And while I don’t think there are any “wasted” degrees, it is pretty rare to move from probation officer to 100k/yr in private industry; so it makes sense to weigh college debt against annual salary.
https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/What-Is-the-Average-Probation-Officer-Salary-by-State
And a degree in criminal justice will be much more limiting than a degree in either education or social work, both of which are in high demand relative to criminal justice.
Since OP’s son loves Dayton that’s clearly the best choice. But it may be a good idea to stick with general studies-at least for the first year-before declaring a major.