Best Correctional Officer programs in Michigan, ranked by enrollment
Guard inmates in penal or rehabilitative institutions in accordance with established regulations and procedures. May guard prisoners in transit between jail, courtroom, prison, or other point.
22 schools in Michigan run programs that feed this job, graduating 193 people a year. The job pays a median of $64,020 in Michigan across about 8,220 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Michigan that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
4 programs in Michigan that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Michigan (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 Michigan page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corrections and Criminal Justice, Othermain feeder CIP 43.0199In Michigan → | 83 | 43.0% | 4 | $37,408 | $24,069 |
| 2 | Correctionsmain feeder CIP 43.0102In Michigan → | 60 | 31.1% | 14 | $37,408 | $24,069 |
| 3 | Criminal Justice and Corrections, Generalmain feeder CIP 43.0100In Michigan → | 46 | 23.8% | 5 | $37,408 | $24,069 |
| 4 | Juvenile Correctionsmain feeder CIP 43.0110In Michigan → | 4 | 2.1% | 2 | $37,408 | $24,069 |
Top 22 schools in Michigan
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 11 of the 22 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oakland University Rochester Hills, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 62 | Corrections and Criminal Justice, Other | $35,705 | 58% | — | 88% |
| 2 | Baker College Owosso, MI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Corrections | $44,354 | 36% | $15,493 | 82% |
| 3 | St Clair County Community College Port Huron, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Criminal Justice and Corrections, General | $32,691 | 34% | — | — |
| 4 | Wayne County Community College District Detroit, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Criminal Justice and Corrections, General | — | 22% | — | — |
| 5 | University of Michigan - Flint Flint, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Corrections and Criminal Justice, Other | $35,912 | 40% | — | 70% |
| 6 | Grand Rapids Community College Grand Rapids, MI Public · 2 feeder programs | 6 | Corrections | $59,278 | 21% | — | — |
| 7 | Lansing Community College Lansing, MI Public · 2 feeder programs | 6 | Juvenile Corrections | — | 25% | — | — |
| 8 | The University of Olivet Olivet, MI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Criminal Justice and Corrections, General | $48,328 | 35% | $21,946 | 83% |
| 9 | Adrian College Adrian, MI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Corrections and Criminal Justice, Other | $34,112 | 48% | $20,357 | 73% |
| 10 | Bay de Noc Community College Escanaba, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Corrections | — | 30% | — | — |
| 11 | Delta College University Center, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Corrections | $44,637 | 27% | — | — |
| 12 | Mid Michigan College Harrison, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Corrections | — | 28% | — | — |
| 13 | Montcalm Community College Sidney, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Corrections | — | 31% | — | — |
| 14 | Grace Christian University Wyoming, MI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Criminal Justice and Corrections, General | — | 51% | $14,254 | 99% |
| 15 | Jackson College Jackson, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Corrections | $39,162 | 16% | — | — |
| 16 | Kellogg Community College Battle Creek, MI Public · 2 feeder programs | 3 | Corrections | — | 30% | — | — |
| 17 | Lake Superior State University Sault Ste Marie, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Corrections | $43,937 | 51% | — | — |
| 18 | Monroe County Community College Monroe, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Corrections and Criminal Justice, Other | — | 34% | — | — |
| 19 | Oakland Community College Auburn Hills, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Corrections | $51,827 | 21% | — | — |
| 20 | Bay Mills Community College Brimley, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Corrections | — | 30% | — | — |
| 21 | Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College LAnse, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Corrections | — | 11% | — | — |
| 22 | Muskegon Community College Muskegon, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Corrections | — | 28% | — | — |
All 22 schools in Michigan
Every school in Michigan 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland University | Rochester Hills | Public | 62 | 1 |
| Baker College | Owosso | Private not-for-profit | 24 | 1 |
| St Clair County Community College | Port Huron | Public | 19 | 1 |
| Wayne County Community College District | Detroit | Public | 17 | 1 |
| University of Michigan - Flint | Flint | Public | 14 | 1 |
| Grand Rapids Community College | Grand Rapids | Public | 6 | 2 |
| Lansing Community College | Lansing | Public | 6 | 2 |
| The University of Olivet | Olivet | Private not-for-profit | 6 | 1 |
| Adrian College | Adrian | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 1 |
| Bay de Noc Community College | Escanaba | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Delta College | University Center | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Mid Michigan College | Harrison | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Montcalm Community College | Sidney | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Grace Christian University | Wyoming | Private not-for-profit | 3 | 1 |
| Jackson College | Jackson | Public | 3 | 1 |
What correctional officers and jailers earn in Michigan
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $58,940. Michigan pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Michigan
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 Correctional Officers and Jailers page.
How to become a Correctional Officer
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job 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 Michigan
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 4 majors mapped to Correctional Officers and Jailers4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 43.0100Criminal Justice and Corrections, General
- 43.0102Corrections
- 43.0110Juvenile Corrections
- 43.0199Corrections and Criminal Justice, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing correctional officers and jailers programs in Michigan.
What degree do you need to become a Correctional Officer?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Corrections and Criminal Justice, Other, which awarded 83 degrees in Michigan in 2024-25, 43.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Correctional Officer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Criminal Justice and Corrections. Together they graduate about 193 people a year in Michigan.
How much do correctional officers and jailers earn in Michigan?+
The median is $64,020 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 8.6% above the U.S. median of $58,940. 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 correctional officers and jailers growing?+
BLS projects a -7.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 30,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Michigan?+
22 institutions in Michigan reported graduates from at least one of the 4 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 correctional officers and jailers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Jailer, Detention Officer, Correctional Officer, Corrections Officer (CO) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 33-3012.
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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