Indiana·Community and Social Service Occupations·SOC 21-1092

Best Probation Officer programs in Indiana, ranked by enrollment

Provide social services to assist in rehabilitation of law offenders in custody or on probation or parole.

22 schools in Indiana run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,314 people a year. The job pays a median of $60,170 in Indiana across about 2,270 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledProbation OfficerParole Officer (PO)Correctional CounselorJuvenile Probation OfficerCourt WorkerParole AgentPeople OfficerTruant Officer
Graduates / yr
1,314
in Indiana
Median pay · Indiana
$60,170
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
2,270
people employed
Schools
22
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
55%
across those schools
Median net price
$20,155
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Indiana that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

1 programs in Indiana that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Indiana (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Indiana page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 44.0701In Indiana
1,314
100.0%
22$37,264$26,140

Top 22 schools in Indiana

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 12 of the 22 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Indiana University - Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
565Social Work$41,65754%76%
2Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global
Marion, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
346Social Work$36,72235%$18,316
3Ball State University
Muncie, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
106Social Work$39,09462%85%
4University of Southern Indiana
Evansville, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
39Social Work$36,12648%96%
5Indiana University - Bloomington
Bloomington, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
36Social Work$39,69580%78%
6Indiana University - South Bend
South Bend, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
35Social Work$37,81240%84%
7Indiana Wesleyan University - Marion
Marion, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
34Social Work$36,72267%$21,35189%
8University of Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
18Social Work$36,39956%$18,93066%
9Vincennes University
Vincennes, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
18Social Work39%
10Indiana State University
Terre Haute, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
16Social Work$36,29443%81%
11Indiana University - Northwest
Gary, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
14Social Work$38,65237%73%
12Marian University
Indianapolis, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
13Social Work67%$23,37195%
13Purdue University Northwest
Hammond, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
13Social Work43%72%
14Valparaiso University
Valparaiso, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
12Social Work70%$20,15589%
15Indiana University - East
Richmond, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
11Social Work$32,74840%67%
16Goshen College
Goshen, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
10Social Work65%$15,43084%
17Huntington University
Huntington, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
9Social Work64%$13,05676%
18Manchester University
North Manchester, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
7Social Work46%$17,98071%
19Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
4Social Work69%$25,89676%
20University of Saint Francis - Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
4Social Work$40,53255%$20,01296%
21Anderson University
Anderson, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
3Social Work54%$21,78979%
22Taylor University
Upland, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Social Work74%$20,83674%

All 22 schools in Indiana

Every school in Indiana with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Indiana that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Indiana University - IndianapolisIndianapolisPublic5651
Indiana Wesleyan University - National & GlobalMarionPrivate not-for-profit3461
Ball State UniversityMunciePublic1061
University of Southern IndianaEvansvillePublic391
Indiana University - BloomingtonBloomingtonPublic361
Indiana University - South BendSouth BendPublic351
Indiana Wesleyan University - MarionMarionPrivate not-for-profit341
University of IndianapolisIndianapolisPrivate not-for-profit181
Vincennes UniversityVincennesPublic181
Indiana State UniversityTerre HautePublic161
Indiana University - NorthwestGaryPublic141
Marian UniversityIndianapolisPrivate not-for-profit131
Purdue University NorthwestHammondPublic131
Valparaiso UniversityValparaisoPrivate not-for-profit121
Indiana University - EastRichmondPublic111

What probation officers and correctional treatment specialists earn in Indiana

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Indiana
$60,170
Mean annual
$62,650
Jobs in state
2,270
What the range looks like
10th pct$43,610Median$60,17090th pct$81,160
Versus the national median
-9.2%

U.S. median $66,270. Indiana pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.23×

Concentrated here: Indiana employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Indiana

Bloomington, IN
$76,190median
90 jobs
Fort Wayne, IN
$71,300median
160 jobs
South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI
$60,090median
90 jobs
Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN
$58,040median
60 jobs
Elkhart-Goshen, IN
$54,490median
60 jobs
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN
$60,170median
630 jobs
Terre Haute, IN
$57,740median
80 jobs
Evansville, IN
$59,430median
70 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+2.6%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
7,900
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
2,400
92,300 → 94,800
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Plus moderate-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists page.

How to become a Probation Officer

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

Active ListeningSpeakingReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingWritingMonitoring

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Indiana

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 1 majors mapped to Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 44.0701Social Work

Common questions

Answers for people weighing probation officers and correctional treatment specialists programs in Indiana.

What degree do you need to become a Probation Officer?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Social Work, which awarded 1,314 degrees in Indiana in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Probation Officer?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Social Work. Together they graduate about 1,314 people a year in Indiana.

How much do probation officers and correctional treatment specialists earn in Indiana?+

The median is $60,170 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 9.2% below the U.S. median of $66,270. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for probation officers and correctional treatment specialists growing?+

BLS projects a +2.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 7,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Indiana?+

22 institutions in Indiana reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do probation officers and correctional treatment specialists work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Probation Officer, Parole Officer (PO), Correctional Counselor, Juvenile Probation Officer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 21-1092.

Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists in other statesNew YorkCaliforniaTexasMinnesotaIllinoisMichiganOhioKentucky
Programs in IndianaSocial Work

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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