Best Criminal Justice programs in Iowa, ranked by enrollment
Teach courses in criminal justice, corrections, and law enforcement administration.
32 schools in Iowa run programs that feed this job, graduating 804 people a year. The job pays a median of $79,690 in Iowa across about 80 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Iowa that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
8 programs in Iowa that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Iowa (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 Iowa page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 43.0104In Iowa → | 328 | 40.8% | 26 | $37,408 | $24,069 |
| 2 | CIP 43.0107In Iowa → | 171 | 21.3% | 11 | $37,408 | $24,069 |
| 3 | CIP 45.0401In Iowa → | 165 | 20.5% | 5 | $37,366 | $25,000 |
| 4 | CIP 43.0403In Iowa → | 73 | 9.1% | 3 | $40,889 | $25,000 |
| 5 | CIP 43.0103In Iowa → | 45 | 5.6% | 4 | $37,408 | $24,069 |
| 6 | CIP 43.0406In Iowa → | 12 | 1.5% | 3 | $40,889 | $25,000 |
| 7 | CIP 43.0199In Iowa → | 9 | 1.1% | 1 | $37,408 | $24,069 |
| 8 | CIP 03.0208In Iowa → | 1 | 0.1% | 1 | $37,946 | $24,125 |
Top 25 schools in Iowa
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 14 of the 32 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iowa State University Ames, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 84 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $41,624 | 75% | — | 89% |
| 2 | University of Iowa Iowa City, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 77 | Criminology | $38,520 | 75% | — | 84% |
| 3 | Des Moines Area Community College Ankeny, IA Public · 2 feeder programs | 67 | Criminal Justice/Police Science | $42,555 | 39% | — | — |
| 4 | Eastern Iowa Community College District Davenport, IA Public · 3 feeder programs | 62 | Cyber/Computer Forensics and Counterterrorism | — | 45% | — | — |
| 5 | University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA Public · 2 feeder programs | 59 | Criminology | $43,914 | 68% | — | 93% |
| 6 | Western Iowa Tech Community College Sioux City, IA Public · 3 feeder programs | 57 | Cyber/Computer Forensics and Counterterrorism | — | 50% | — | — |
| 7 | Upper Iowa University Fayette, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 41 | Criminology | $43,170 | 34% | $22,697 | 96% |
| 8 | Iowa Central Community College Fort Dodge, IA Public · 3 feeder programs | 33 | Criminal Justice/Police Science | $39,121 | 42% | — | — |
| 9 | Waldorf University Forest City, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 33 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $42,735 | 21% | $22,328 | 77% |
| 10 | Buena Vista University Storm Lake, IA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 26 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $37,641 | 62% | $17,609 | 78% |
| 11 | University of Dubuque Dubuque, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 26 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $46,307 | 40% | $21,324 | 89% |
| 12 | Hawkeye Community College Waterloo, IA Public · 2 feeder programs | 22 | Criminal Justice/Police Science | $49,572 | 43% | — | — |
| 13 | Simpson College Indianola, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 19 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $42,862 | 63% | $20,710 | 86% |
| 14 | Grand View University Des Moines, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $45,175 | 54% | $20,840 | 99% |
| 15 | Iowa Western Community College Council Bluffs, IA Public · 2 feeder programs | 18 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | — | 40% | — | — |
| 16 | Kirkwood Community College Cedar Rapids, IA Public · 2 feeder programs | 17 | Criminal Justice/Police Science | — | 43% | — | — |
| 17 | Indian Hills Community College Ottumwa, IA Public · 2 feeder programs | 16 | Criminal Justice/Police Science | — | 40% | — | — |
| 18 | Saint Ambrose University Davenport, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 15 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | — | 61% | $21,680 | 77% |
| 19 | Graceland University - Lamoni Lamoni, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | — | 42% | $16,430 | 81% |
| 20 | Coe College Cedar Rapids, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | — | 66% | $18,153 | 64% |
| 21 | Loras College Dubuque, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | $47,413 | 68% | $19,227 | 100% |
| 22 | Mount Mercy University Cedar Rapids, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 11 | Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration | $34,824 | 58% | $23,054 | 83% |
| 23 | Morningside University Sioux City, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | — | 50% | $22,816 | 71% |
| 24 | William Penn University Oskaloosa, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Criminology | — | 33% | $21,533 | 52% |
| 25 | Briar Cliff University Sioux City, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Criminal Justice/Safety Studies | — | 48% | $21,731 | — |
All 32 schools in Iowa
Every school in Iowa 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.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa State University | Ames | Public | 84 | 1 |
| University of Iowa | Iowa City | Public | 77 | 1 |
| Des Moines Area Community College | Ankeny | Public | 67 | 2 |
| Eastern Iowa Community College District | Davenport | Public | 62 | 3 |
| University of Northern Iowa | Cedar Falls | Public | 59 | 2 |
| Western Iowa Tech Community College | Sioux City | Public | 57 | 3 |
| Upper Iowa University | Fayette | Private not-for-profit | 41 | 2 |
| Iowa Central Community College | Fort Dodge | Public | 33 | 3 |
| Waldorf University | Forest City | Private not-for-profit | 33 | 2 |
| Buena Vista University | Storm Lake | Private not-for-profit | 26 | 3 |
| University of Dubuque | Dubuque | Private not-for-profit | 26 | 2 |
| Hawkeye Community College | Waterloo | Public | 22 | 2 |
| Simpson College | Indianola | Private not-for-profit | 19 | 2 |
| Grand View University | Des Moines | Private not-for-profit | 18 | 1 |
| Iowa Western Community College | Council Bluffs | Public | 18 | 2 |
What criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary earn in Iowa
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $76,590. Iowa pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
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 Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary page.
How to become a Criminal Justice
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Doctoral or professional degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Iowa
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 25 majors mapped to Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary21 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 03.0208Environmental/Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services
- 43.0100Criminal Justice and Corrections, General
- 43.0102Corrections
- 43.0103Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration
- 43.0104Criminal Justice/Safety Studies
- 43.0107Criminal Justice/Police Science
- 43.0109Security and Loss Prevention Services
- 43.0110Juvenile Corrections
- 43.0112Securities Services Administration/Management
- 43.0113Corrections Administration
- 43.0114Law Enforcement Investigation and Interviewing
- 43.0115Law Enforcement Record-Keeping and Evidence Management(no graduates reported)
- 43.0119Critical Incident Response/Special Police Operations
- 43.0120Protective Services Operations
- 43.0121Suspension and Debarment Investigation(no graduates reported)
- 43.0122Maritime Law Enforcement(no graduates reported)
- 43.0123Cultural/Archaelogical Resources Protection(no graduates reported)
- 43.0199Corrections and Criminal Justice, Other
- 43.0304Terrorism and Counterterrorism Operations
- 43.0399Homeland Security, Other
- 43.0401Security Science and Technology, General
- 43.0402Criminalistics and Criminal Science
- 43.0403Cyber/Computer Forensics and Counterterrorism
- 43.0404Cybersecurity Defense Strategy/Policy
- 43.0405Financial Forensics and Fraud Investigation
Common questions
Answers for people weighing criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary programs in Iowa.
What degree do you need to become a Criminal Justice?+
Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Criminal Justice/Safety Studies, which awarded 328 degrees in Iowa in 2024-25, 40.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Criminal Justice?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 8 programs to this occupation. The largest are Criminal Justice and Corrections, Criminology, Security Science and Technology, Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy. Together they graduate about 804 people a year in Iowa.
How much do criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary earn in Iowa?+
The median is $79,690 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 4.0% above the U.S. median of $76,590. 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 criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary growing?+
BLS projects a +2.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 1,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Iowa?+
32 institutions in Iowa reported graduates from at least one of the 8 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 criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Professor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Criminal Justice Professor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-1111.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, 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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