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Before enter­ing the field of law enforce­ment, stu­dent can con­sid­er a range of careers. One type of degree prospect is a bachelor’s degree in cor­rec­tions. How­ev­er, before pur­su­ing a job as a cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer, the prospec­tive stu­dent should explore the advan­tages and dis­ad­van­tages of the position.

Do I Need a Degree for a Corrections Career?

Cor­rec­tions degrees are cre­at­ed to help those who want to advance in their law enforce­ment careers. Bach­e­lor degree seek­ers for cor­rec­tions are usu­al­ly already posi­tioned in the field. How­ev­er, a stu­dent can also choose to enter an under­grad­u­ate degree for cor­rec­tions with­out any pre­vi­ous law enforce­ment expe­ri­ence. If a cor­rec­tions degree is not offered by the four-year col­lege, then anoth­er option could be to major in crim­i­nal jus­tice and spe­cial­iza­tion in cor­rec­tions. Addi­tion­al­ly, cor­rec­tions may be offered as a minor.

Cor­rec­tions degrees can be pur­sued on cam­pus or through an online pro­gram. Prospec­tive stu­dents should com­pare both types to see what types of cours­es are offered and how flex­i­ble the sched­ule may be. If work­ing, online cor­rec­tions degrees may be pref­er­en­tial. Grad­u­a­tion cred­its are typ­i­cal­ly the same, but the online degree may be fin­ished at a faster rate. Also, an online cor­rec­tions degree pro­gram may accept work expe­ri­ence in the field toward cred­it requirements.

Cor­rec­tions degrees pro­vide mul­ti­ple career path­ways. How­ev­er, many who earn a degree will decide to work with­in the prison sys­tem. Two main tracks for cor­rec­tions are adult cor­rec­tions and juve­nile cor­rec­tions. Those who are novices in the law enforce­ment field should con­sid­er what type of duties are asso­ci­at­ed with those who gain employ­ment in cor­rec­tions. In both set­tings, a cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer is expect­ed to super­vise inmates and keep every­one safe with­in the facil­i­ty. Cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers are present through­out the day, includ­ing when the inmates are sched­uled for meals and recre­ation­al activ­i­ties. Juve­niles have addi­tion­al pro­tec­tions in place when com­pared to adult inmates. On-the-job train­ing is an impor­tant part of work­ing in cor­rec­tions to con­firm that staff doesn’t vio­late the rights of the pris­on­ers. Super­vi­sors with­in cor­rec­tion­al facil­i­ties are typ­i­cal­ly in charge of train­ing for offi­cers and con­firm­ing that the offi­cers are fol­low­ing the cor­rect protocol.

Com­mon ques­tions for law enforce­ment degree students:

What are cor­rec­tion­al officers?

The role of a cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer is to pro­vide secu­ri­ty with­in a prison. Cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers work with­in local, state, and fed­er­al pen­i­ten­tiaries. Cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers must per­form search­es on pris­on­ers and with­in cells. They also ensure that inmates fol­low the reg­u­la­tions with­in the prison. Cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers are rotat­ed through­out a facil­i­ty to con­firm that all areas remain secure, clean, and free of con­tra­band. Cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers work round-the-clock with shifts that occur dur­ing the day, overnight, and weekends.

Are cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers armed?

Accord­ing to the law enforce­ment pub­li­ca­tion Offi­cer, most cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers are not armed. The rea­son they are not armed is because they work in close prox­im­i­ty with pris­on­ers and being armed could pose a dan­ger to offi­cers and fel­low inmates. How­ev­er, in cer­tain cir­cum­stances they will car­ry a weapon. This could involve prison trans­fers or dur­ing prison riots. Firearm train­ing is like­ly to be part of onboard­ing for a cor­rec­tions officer.

Are cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers police officers?

Cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers are not police offi­cers, but they do per­form sim­i­lar duties. There­fore, train­ing for both police offi­cers and cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers are sim­i­lar. The main dif­fer­ence is cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers are trained to work specif­i­cal­ly with pris­on­ers while police offi­cers are trained to enforce the law with­in the greater com­mu­ni­ty. In some cas­es, a cor­rec­tions offi­cer will lat­er pur­sue a career as a police offi­cer and vice ver­sa. Many law enforce­ment cours­es are the same for those pur­su­ing a career as a police offi­cer or cor­rec­tion­al officer.

What are the ben­e­fits of being a cor­rec­tion­al officer?

The main ben­e­fits of being a cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer is com­pet­i­tive pay and ben­e­fits. Due to the demands of the job, salary rates are usu­al­ly lucra­tive with a sol­id ben­e­fits pack­age that includes health and life insur­ance. Retire­ment ben­e­fits are also typ­i­cal­ly offered to full-time offi­cers. Also, ear­ly retire­ment may be a perk offered through the prison sys­tem. Anoth­er ben­e­fit of being a cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer is that the job pro­vides a chance to reha­bil­i­tate indi­vid­u­als and make a dif­fer­ence in someone’s life for the best. As an exam­ple, cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer case man­agers look for pro­grams that aim to help those who have been con­vict­ed of a crime. Work­ing with juve­niles in the cor­rec­tion­al sys­tem also offers emo­tion­al rewards.

Although cor­rec­tions offi­cer jobs can be pur­sued after degree con­fer­ment, grad­u­ates have oth­er options avail­able to them. Some indi­vid­u­als choose not to work with­in a pen­i­ten­tiary and instead pur­sue careers as a pro­ba­tion offi­cer. Pro­ba­tion offi­cers are more focused on the reha­bil­i­ta­tion of indi­vid­u­als after they are released from pris­ons. Pro­ba­tion offi­cers make con­victs account­able by check­ing in on them upon their release.

Cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer treat­ment spe­cial­ists are anoth­er career option for those who pre­fer to work with­in an admin­is­tra­tive role in the prison sys­tem. Cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer treat­ment spe­cial­ists eval­u­ate a facility’s pro­grams and resources. The spe­cial­ists look to re-intro­duce con­victs into soci­ety by imple­ment­ing pro­grams that help reha­bil­i­tate them. The spe­cial­ists may also help deter­mine what inmates are eli­gi­ble for parole.

High­est pay­ing posi­tions with­in cor­rec­tions are avail­able to those who have a degree in crim­i­nal jus­tice, crim­i­nol­o­gy, and cor­rec­tions. With a degree, the cor­rec­tions offi­cer is pre­pared for super­vi­sor and man­age­ment posi­tions. One of the high­est posi­tions that could be help by a bach­e­lor degree hold­er in cor­rec­tions is a prison warden.

School and Program Accreditation for Corrections Degree Programs

School and pro­gram accred­i­ta­tion is always a con­sid­er­a­tion when choos­ing any type of law enforce­ment degree, includ­ing cor­rec­tions. Region­al accred­i­ta­tion is very impor­tant for an under­grad­u­ate degree in any type of law enforce­ment major. As the gold stan­dard, a region­al accred­i­ta­tion promis­es that the school and degree pro­gram include the required cur­ricu­lum to help the stu­dent advance his or her career. Before region­al accred­i­ta­tion is grant­ed, a com­plete review of the cur­ricu­lum, staff, and pro­gram out­comes are reviewed. With­out region­al accred­i­ta­tion, the stu­dent is not eli­gi­ble for any type of fed­er­al finan­cial aid such as Pell grants and PLUS loans. Also, col­leges usu­al­ly only accept trans­fer cred­its from region­al­ly accred­it­ed col­leges. Nation­al accred­i­ta­tion is avail­able, but this type of accred­i­ta­tion is nor­mal­ly reserved for trade schools. Bach­e­lor degree seek­ers should only attend a col­lege or uni­ver­si­ty with region­al accreditation.

The Coun­cil for High­er Edu­ca­tion Accred­i­ta­tion pro­vides a direc­to­ry of region­al accred­it­ing bod­ies with­in the Unit­ed States. The school’s loca­tion deter­mines the pre­cise accred­it­ing agency. For instance, the High­er Learn­ing Com­mis­sion accred­its region­al schools in the fol­low­ing states: Ari­zona, Arkansas, Col­orado, Illi­nois, Indi­ana, Iowa, Kansas, Michi­gan, Min­neso­ta, Mis­souri, Nebras­ka, New Mex­i­co, North Dako­ta, Ohio, Okla­homa, South Dako­ta, West Vir­ginia, Wis­con­sin, and Wyoming.

Along with region­al accred­i­ta­tion, the stu­dent should con­sid­er pro­gram spe­cif­ic accred­i­ta­tion. There are mul­ti­ple cor­rec­tions and law enforce­ment accred­it­ing agen­cies that eval­u­ate degrees with­in the field. These accred­it­ing agen­cies pro­vide a list of degrees approved by their orga­ni­za­tions. When com­par­ing schools, pro­gram accred­i­ta­tion can be used as a deter­mi­nant. The fol­low­ing agen­cies are accred­i­tors for cor­rec­tion­al degrees with­in the Unit­ed States:

The Com­mis­sion on Accred­i­ta­tion for Cor­rec­tions (CAC) pro­vides accred­i­ta­tion for fed­er­al and state agen­cies offer­ing cor­rec­tion­al train­ing pro­grams and degrees. Anoth­er agency to con­sid­er is the Com­mis­sion on Accred­i­ta­tion for Law Enforce­ment Agen­cies, who aims to stan­dard­ize the train­ing and cur­ricu­lum with­in law enforce­ment agen­cies. Accred­i­ta­tion from these orga­ni­za­tions con­firm the legit­i­ma­cy of the degree pro­gram and also adds transparency.

Types of Corrections Degrees

Cor­rec­tions degrees are avail­able from dif­fer­ent orga­ni­za­tions around the world. Although a degree in cor­rec­tions can be earned on cam­pus, an online degree in cor­rec­tions has grown in pop­u­lar­i­ty. With a bach­e­lors in cor­rec­tions, the grad­u­ate is posi­tioned for a super­vi­so­ry role with­in a pen­i­ten­tiary. A crim­i­nal jus­tice cor­rec­tions degree also puts a job can­di­date to the top of the pile when apply­ing for open jobs as an offi­cer. Pen­i­ten­tiaries pre­fer job can­di­dates who already have a thor­ough knowl­edge­base of the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem. Although the cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer may have to attend a law enforce­ment acad­e­my upon hire for three to six months, the facil­i­ty may show pref­er­ence to bach­e­lor degree holders.

One option avail­able to those inter­est­ed in cor­rec­tions is an online degree in cor­rec­tions. With this type of pro­gram, cor­rec­tions is avail­able as a pre-deter­mined con­cen­tra­tion. Along with core cours­es, the stu­dent will delve into spe­cif­ic cours­es relat­ed to the field of cor­rec­tions. Cours­es may include soci­ol­o­gy, crim­i­nal psy­chol­o­gy, foun­da­tions of the law, crim­i­nal jus­tice research meth­ods, and foun­da­tions of cor­rec­tions. Advanced cor­rec­tions top­ics are stud­ied dur­ing the student’s third and fourth year of full-time study. An intern­ship pro­gram could be offered that allows the stu­dent to spend time work­ing at a juve­nile or adult penitentiary.

A cor­rec­tions offi­cer degree is also avail­able as a stand­alone pro­gram. An online col­lege could offer a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Cor­rec­tions. Foun­da­tion cours­es will be offered through the pro­gram with lib­er­al arts require­ments. Cor­rec­tions class­es are nor­mal­ly focused on reha­bil­i­ta­tion, prison secu­ri­ty, legal aspect of offend­er treat­ment, and dai­ly oper­a­tions with­in the prison sys­tem. Online degrees are usu­al­ly 100 per­cent done vir­tu­al­ly. In rare cas­es, a col­lege could require a min­i­mal cam­pus commitment.

A final option for cor­rec­tions degrees is to choose cor­rec­tions as a minor. When cor­rec­tions is a minor option, the stu­dent usu­al­ly choos­es either crim­i­nal jus­tice or crim­i­nol­o­gy as a major. Crim­i­nal jus­tice degrees pro­vide an overview of the legal sys­tem while crim­i­nol­o­gy delves into the psy­chol­o­gy of crimes. For a minor, the stu­dent may need to com­plete at least five class­es direct­ly relat­ed to cor­rec­tions and the prison system.

Since the stu­dent is pur­su­ing a bach­e­lor’s degree in cor­rec­tions, 120 cred­its are need­ed for grad­u­a­tion. At a tra­di­tion­al col­lege, most stu­dents attend for four years to earn their bach­e­lor degrees. How­ev­er, online cor­rec­tions degrees are typ­i­cal­ly accel­er­at­ed. Cours­es are offered every 10 to 12 weeks with work being sched­uled at con­ve­nient times of the day. If the stu­dent is already employed, he or she could take the class­es at con­ve­nient times dur­ing the day, evening, or week­end. Online cor­rec­tions degrees are avail­able on a part-time or full-time basis and can usu­al­ly be fin­ished in two to four years of study. Mas­ter degree pro­grams are avail­able for the cor­rec­tions field and are usu­al­ly pur­sued by those who are already in an admin­is­tra­tive role and wish to advance even fur­ther. For instance, prison war­dens will have a back­ground in cor­rec­tions and could have a master’s degree in the dis­ci­pline. The prison war­den may also have a dual degree in crim­i­nol­o­gy and corrections.

Associate’s degrees are offered for cor­rec­tions and crim­i­nal jus­tice with cred­its usu­al­ly trans­ferrable if a bach­e­lor degree is pursued.

Certifications and Licenses for Corrections Professionals

Once a degree in cor­rec­tions is earned, the grad­u­ate can enhance their resume by pur­su­ing a cor­rec­tions cer­tifi­cate pro­gram. Online cor­rec­tions cer­tifi­cate pro­grams aid the indi­vid­ual with earn­ing any train­ing cred­its required by his or her employ­er. A cor­rec­tions cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­gram is less broad than cours­es with­in a bach­e­lors in cor­rec­tions. The pro­gram is lim­it­ed to usu­al­ly a sin­gle top­ic that helps advance the train­ing of a cor­rec­tions officer.

The Amer­i­can Cor­rec­tion­al Asso­ci­a­tion pro­vides numer­ous types of online cor­rec­tions cer­tifi­cate pro­grams. There are four main types of cer­ti­fi­ca­tions avail­able through the organization:

  • Adult
  • Juve­nile
  • Health Care
  • Pro­vi­sion­al

Fur­ther­more, with­in each of these cat­e­gories, there are mul­ti­ple cer­ti­fi­ca­tion options. For instance, Adult Cor­rec­tions has cer­ti­fi­ca­tions for offi­cers, super­vi­sors, man­agers, and exec­u­tives. The individual’s expe­ri­ence in the field of cor­rec­tions and edu­ca­tion lev­el deter­mines which type of cer­ti­fi­ca­tion he or she will pur­sue. Cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­grams are self-paced and award­ed after the exam­i­na­tion is passed and the applicant’s cre­den­tials are con­firmed. For the Pro­vi­sion­al cer­ti­fi­ca­tion, a cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer holds the cer­ti­fi­ca­tion for a two-year peri­od. At the end of the two years of work­ing with­in a cor­rec­tion­al insti­tute, the appli­cant applies for a cor­rec­tions offi­cer certification.

Keep in mind that some states require a cer­ti­fi­ca­tion exam to be a cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer. For instance, Flori­da has a State Offi­cer Cer­ti­fi­ca­tion Exam is for both police offi­cers, pro­ba­tion offi­cers, and cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers who plan to seek employ­ment in the state.

Anoth­er type of cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­gram is for those who plan to work with­in a spe­cial­ized area of cor­rec­tions. For instance, cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer train­ers can attend a cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­gram pro­vid­ed through the Amer­i­can Jail Association.

Careers With a Corrections Degree

Cor­rec­tions offi­cer jobs are more var­ied than most stu­dents first real­ize. Cor­rec­tions degree jobs are not exclu­sive to work­ing with­in adult pen­i­ten­tiaries. As an exam­ple, the grad­u­ate could seek out a juve­nile cor­rec­tions offi­cer job. Although the job duties of a cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer are sim­i­lar for juve­niles and adults, juve­nile cor­rec­tion offi­cer jobs require spe­cial­ized train­ing. There are more strin­gent reg­u­la­tions on how a cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer must treat an under­age indi­vid­ual. Reha­bil­i­ta­tion strate­gies are also dif­fer­ent with­in a juve­nile set­ting. One poten­tial career to look into is juve­nile cor­rec­tions coun­selor jobs. In this posi­tion, the coun­selor helps the juve­nile over­come any prob­lems that led to past crim­i­nal behavior.

Cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer job duties in an adult pen­i­ten­tiary include keep­ing order with­in a prison and enforc­ing any rules that have been set by the insti­tu­tion. Cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers must super­vise inmates and inter­vene when need­ed. Search­es are per­formed on inmates and cells to check for any ille­gal con­tra­band. The cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer job may also ask that reports are gen­er­at­ed on the behav­ior of the inmates. Cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers also assist with trans­porta­tion of inmates to a dif­fer­ent facility.

A com­mon ques­tion is, “Do you need a degree to be a cor­rec­tions offi­cer?” Although an entry-lev­el posi­tion as a cor­rec­tions offi­cer may only require a cer­ti­fi­ca­tion exam, cor­rec­tions man­age­ment posi­tions are like­ly to ask for a degree in cor­rec­tions or sim­i­lar course of study.

A cor­rec­tion­al case man­ag­er is also known as a cor­rec­tion­al treat­ment spe­cial­ist. Case man­agers usu­al­ly work behind the scenes to eval­u­ate pro­grams avail­able with­in a pen­i­ten­tiary and imple­ment new pro­grams to assist inmates. Cor­rec­tion­al case man­ag­er jobs involve eval­u­at­ing each pris­on­er to assess their strengths and weak­ness­es. The treat­ment spe­cial­ist looks for strate­gies to help rein­tro­duce the inmate suc­cess­ful­ly back into society.

Anoth­er type of career in cor­rec­tions is to pur­sue a job as a parole offi­cer. Parole offi­cers work with inmates pri­or to release as a way to set a plan on how they will gain employ­ment and become pro­duc­tive mem­bers of soci­ety. The parole offi­cer also assists with arrang­ing men­tal health or sub­stance abuse sup­port ser­vices fol­low­ing the inmate’s release. Upon release, the parole offi­cer checks on the released con­vict rou­tine­ly and may con­duct drug screen­ings. Home vis­its may also be con­duct­ed to con­firm that the for­mer inmate is fol­low­ing all con­di­tions of his or her release.

Cor­rec­tions jobs also include cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer super­vi­sors. Super­vi­sors work with­in an adult or juve­nile facil­i­ty. The super­vi­sors coor­di­nate oth­er cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers and ensures the employ­ees meet all train­ing require­ments. The super­vi­sor could also be in charge of sched­ul­ing and han­dling any inter­nal issues with offi­cers. Super­vi­sors usu­al­ly work in an envi­ron­ment where they inter­act with both fel­low offi­cers and inmates. A cor­rec­tions offi­cer man­ag­er is usu­al­ly a posi­tion that’s supe­ri­or to a cor­rec­tions offi­cer super­vi­sor. The man­ag­er over­sees the super­vi­sors and usu­al­ly has lim­it­ed inter­ac­tions with inmates. Cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer man­agers devel­op poli­cies for the inmates and offi­cers to fol­low. They train super­vi­sors on these poli­cies and eval­u­ate any flaws found with­in the sys­tem. Super­vi­sor and man­age­ment jobs at juve­nile facil­i­ties focus on enact­ing strate­gies that are effec­tive with­in a juve­nile jus­tice setting.

Prison war­den is the high­est posi­tion that a per­son can hold while work­ing at a cor­rec­tion­al facil­i­ty. Prison war­dens are respon­si­ble for the oper­a­tions of the pen­i­ten­tiary. The war­den must be trained on cri­sis response tech­niques and how to pre­vent sit­u­a­tions from esca­lat­ing into riots.

After gain­ing expe­ri­ence with­in the field of cor­rec­tions, the degree hold­er could seek oth­er oppor­tu­ni­ties out­side of the prison sys­tem. For instance, there are cor­rec­tions degree jobs in the field of edu­ca­tion. Cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer train­ers are respon­si­ble for edu­cat­ing cur­rent and prospec­tive offi­cers who work in the crim­i­nal jus­tice system.

Salary Expectations in Corrections

The salary of a cor­rec­tions offi­cer is around $45,300, accord­ing to the Unit­ed States Bureau of Labor Sta­tis­tics. This fig­ure is for entry-lev­el cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers with a high school degree or equiv­a­lent. Bailiffs earn a sim­i­lar salary and ensure the safe­ty of those who are inside a court­room. A bach­e­lor degree could increase start­ing salaries of a cor­rec­tion­al officer.

Cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer salary varies from state to state. The annu­al mean wage in cer­tain states for cor­rec­tions offi­cers are much high­er than the nation­al aver­age. High­est wage earn­ers for cor­rec­tions offi­cers reside in Cal­i­for­nia, New Jer­sey, Rhode Island, Mass­a­chu­setts, and New York. In these states, the aver­age cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer salary is $68,000 per year or more. Loca­tions that have state or fed­er­al pris­ons with­in their juris­dic­tions also pro­vide high­er annu­al mean wages for cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers. San Fran­cis­co, New York, Bak­ers­field, and Sacra­men­to pay cor­rec­tions offi­cers in excess of $71,000 per year.

Cor­rec­tions case man­ag­er salary is around $52,000 per year on aver­age. Case man­agers take on an admin­is­tra­tive role and may have start­ed out as cor­rec­tions offi­cers. Super­vi­sors with­in a cor­rec­tion­al facil­i­ty will earn a sim­i­lar salary in the range of $52,000 to $55,000 per year.

Prison war­den salaries are very com­pet­i­tive and usu­al­ly start at $80,000 per year. At some pris­ons, the war­den makes $115,000 or more annually.

Professional Organizations

Pro­fes­sion­al orga­ni­za­tions are very use­ful for those who work in cor­rec­tions. For one, a pro­fes­sion­al orga­ni­za­tion puts the offi­cer in touch with oth­ers who work in the field. When search­ing for a new job, attend events held by the pro­fes­sion­al orga­ni­za­tion as a way to net­work with cur­rent offi­cers, super­vi­sors, and war­dens. When enrolling in a pro­fes­sion­al orga­ni­za­tion, the group pro­vides pub­li­ca­tions that are relat­ed to the field of cor­rec­tions. These pub­li­ca­tions help the offi­cer stay on top of any new reg­u­la­tions with­in the prison sys­tem. Most impor­tant­ly, the pro­fes­sion­al soci­eties are sources for new train­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties. Mem­bers are giv­en access to cours­es that help them get cer­ti­fied with­in a spe­cial­ized area of cor­rec­tions. Cer­ti­fi­ca­tions qual­i­fy the appli­cant for advanced positions.

The fol­low­ing are orga­ni­za­tions that offi­cers and super­vi­sors in the cor­rec­tions field should consider:

  • Amer­i­can Cor­rec­tion­al Association
  • Cor­rec­tion­al Lead­ers Association
  • Asso­ci­a­tion of State Cor­rec­tion­al Administrators

Relat­ed Rankings: 

25 Best Bach­e­lor’s in Corrections

15 Best Online Bach­e­lor’s in Corrections

10 Fastest Online Bach­e­lor’s in Corrections

10 Most Afford­able Bach­e­lor’s in Corrections