Nebraska·Protective Service Occupations·SOC 33-1012

Best First-Line Supervisors of police officer programs in Nebraska, ranked by enrollment

Directly supervise and coordinate activities of members of police.

15 schools in Nebraska run programs that feed this job, graduating 722 people a year. The job pays a median of $106,100 in Nebraska across about 730 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledLieutenantPolice CaptainPatrol SergeantPolice SergeantCaptainPort WardenChief DeputyPolice Chief
Graduates / yr
722
in Nebraska
Median pay · Nebraska
$106,100
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
730
people employed
Schools
15
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
50%
across those schools
Median net price
$22,390
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Nebraska that lead to this job

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

5 programs in Nebraska that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Nebraska (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 Nebraska page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 43.0104In Nebraska
670
92.8%
11$37,408$24,069
2
CIP 43.0302In Nebraska
22
3.0%
3$46,281$23,250
3
CIP 43.0103In Nebraska
18
2.5%
4$37,408$24,069
4
CIP 43.0100In Nebraska
6
0.8%
1$37,408$24,069
5
CIP 43.0102In Nebraska
6
0.8%
1$37,408$24,069

Top 15 schools in Nebraska

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 7 of the 15 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1University of Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, NE Public · 2 feeder programs
287Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$38,75647%87%
2Central Community College
Grand Island, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
204Criminal Justice/Safety Studies48%
3Wayne State College
Wayne, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
59Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$41,86952%
4Bellevue University
Bellevue, NE Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
42Criminal Justice/Safety Studies33%$29,230
5University of Nebraska at Kearney
Kearney, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
33Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$40,12858%89%
6Metropolitan Community College Area
Omaha, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
24Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$28,51129%
7Peru State College
Peru, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
20Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$38,95338%
8Southeast Community College Area
Lincoln, NE Public · 3 feeder programs
17Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$28,47338%
9York University
York, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
10Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration52%$19,34652%
10Creighton University
Omaha, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
6Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration83%$27,35380%
11Northeast Community College
Norfolk, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
6Corrections$33,06456%
12Concordia University - Nebraska
Seward, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
5Criminal Justice/Safety Studies65%$22,39086%
13Western Nebraska Community College
Scottsbluff, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
5Criminal Justice/Safety Studies37%
14Nebraska Wesleyan University
Lincoln, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Criminal Justice/Safety Studies66%$22,22580%
15University of Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
2Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management

All 15 schools in Nebraska

Every school in Nebraska 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 Nebraska that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of Nebraska at OmahaOmahaPublic2872
Central Community CollegeGrand IslandPublic2041
Wayne State CollegeWaynePublic591
Bellevue UniversityBellevuePrivate not-for-profit423
University of Nebraska at KearneyKearneyPublic331
Metropolitan Community College AreaOmahaPublic241
Peru State CollegePeruPublic201
Southeast Community College AreaLincolnPublic173
York UniversityYorkPrivate not-for-profit101
Creighton UniversityOmahaPrivate not-for-profit61
Northeast Community CollegeNorfolkPublic61
Concordia University - NebraskaSewardPrivate not-for-profit51
Western Nebraska Community CollegeScottsbluffPublic51
Nebraska Wesleyan UniversityLincolnPrivate not-for-profit21
University of Nebraska Medical CenterOmahaPublic21

What first-line supervisors of police and detectives earn in Nebraska

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

Median annual in Nebraska
$106,100
Mean annual
$104,350
Jobs in state
730
What the range looks like
10th pct$73,920Median$106,10090th pct$143,290
Versus the national median
+0.1%

U.S. median $106,040. Nebraska pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.72×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Nebraska

Lincoln, NE
$117,860median
110 jobs
Omaha, NE-IA
$106,100median
380 jobs
Grand Island, NE
$98,880median
40 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+2.9%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
10,900
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
4,600
160,800 → 165,400
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
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 First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives page.

How to become a First-Line Supervisors of police officer

Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Work experience needed
Less than 5 years
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

MonitoringActive ListeningCritical ThinkingSpeakingReading ComprehensionActive Learning

The same job in other states

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

Related careers in Nebraska

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 19 majors mapped to First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives16 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 03.0208Environmental/Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services
  • 29.0203Signal/Geospatial Intelligence
  • 43.0100Criminal Justice and Corrections, General
  • 43.0102Corrections
  • 43.0103Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration
  • 43.0104Criminal Justice/Safety Studies
  • 43.0115Law Enforcement Record-Keeping and Evidence Management(no graduates reported)
  • 43.0119Critical Incident Response/Special Police Operations
  • 43.0120Protective Services Operations
  • 43.0122Maritime Law Enforcement(no graduates reported)
  • 43.0123Cultural/Archaelogical Resources Protection(no graduates reported)
  • 43.0301Homeland Security
  • 43.0302Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management
  • 43.0303Critical Infrastructure Protection
  • 43.0304Terrorism and Counterterrorism Operations
  • 43.0401Security Science and Technology, General
  • 43.0404Cybersecurity Defense Strategy/Policy
  • 43.0407Geospatial Intelligence
  • 43.0499Security Science and Technology, Other

Common questions

Answers for people weighing first-line supervisors of police and detectives programs in Nebraska.

What degree do you need to become a First-Line Supervisors of police 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 Criminal Justice/Safety Studies, which awarded 670 degrees in Nebraska in 2024-25, 92.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a First-Line Supervisors of police officer?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Criminal Justice and Corrections, Homeland Security. Together they graduate about 722 people a year in Nebraska.

How much do first-line supervisors of police and detectives earn in Nebraska?+

The median is $106,100 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 0.1% above the U.S. median of $106,040. 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 first-line supervisors of police and detectives growing?+

BLS projects a +2.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 10,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

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

15 institutions in Nebraska reported graduates from at least one of the 5 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 first-line supervisors of police and detectives work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Lieutenant, Police Captain, Patrol Sergeant, Police Sergeant among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 33-1012.

First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives in other statesCaliforniaTexasFloridaArizonaNew YorkVirginiaGeorgiaNorth Carolina

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

All Clema data sources and release dates →

Explore every U.S. college in one conversation

Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.

Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card