Virginia·Protective Service Occupations·SOC 33-1011

Best First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officer programs in Virginia, ranked by enrollment

Directly supervise and coordinate activities of correctional officers and.

16 schools in Virginia run programs that feed this job, graduating 2,790 people a year. The job pays a median of $64,190 in Virginia across about 2,230 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledCorrectional SupervisorCorrectional Officer CaptainGuard ChiefUnit ManagerWard SupervisorGuard SupervisorShift SupervisorCorrection Warden
Graduates / yr
2,790
in Virginia
Median pay · Virginia
$64,190
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
2,230
people employed
Schools
16
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
49%
across those schools
Median net price
$22,258
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Virginia that lead to this job

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

2 programs in Virginia that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Virginia (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 Virginia 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 Virginia
2,760
98.9%
13$37,408$24,069
2
CIP 43.0102In Virginia
30
1.1%
3$37,408$24,069

Top 16 schools in Virginia

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 10 of the 16 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Liberty University
Lynchburg, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1,252Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$48,85565%$28,91199%
2University of Virginia - Main Campus
Charlottesville, VA Public · 1 feeder programs
994Criminal Justice/Safety Studies96%17%
3Northern Virginia Community College
Annandale, VA Public · 1 feeder programs
162Criminal Justice/Safety Studies33%
4Radford University
Radford, VA Public · 1 feeder programs
81Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$35,93549%90%
5Virginia State University
Petersburg, VA Public · 1 feeder programs
70Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$34,60439%89%
6ECPI University
Virginia Beach, VA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
54Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$36,28742%$21,90975%
7Longwood University
Farmville, VA Public · 1 feeder programs
38Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$36,25461%90%
8George Mason University
Fairfax, VA Public · 1 feeder programs
29Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$43,61268%87%
9Roanoke College
Salem, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
22Criminal Justice/Safety Studies67%$24,60483%
10Virginia Wesleyan University
Virginia Beach, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
21Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$39,40442%$20,17173%
11Bluefield University
Bluefield, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
20Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$41,00518%$22,05759%
12Wytheville Community College
Wytheville, VA Public · 1 feeder programs
17Corrections$38,90747%
13Mountain Empire Community College
Big Stone Gap, VA Public · 1 feeder programs
11Corrections48%
14Norfolk State University
Norfolk, VA Public · 1 feeder programs
11Criminal Justice/Safety Studies38%88%
15Ferrum College
Ferrum, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
6Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$42,08032%$22,25889%
16Virginia Highlands Community College
Abingdon, VA Public · 1 feeder programs
2Corrections40%

All 16 schools in Virginia

Every school in Virginia 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 Virginia that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Liberty UniversityLynchburgPrivate not-for-profit1,2521
University of Virginia - Main CampusCharlottesvillePublic9941
Northern Virginia Community CollegeAnnandalePublic1621
Radford UniversityRadfordPublic811
Virginia State UniversityPetersburgPublic701
ECPI UniversityVirginia BeachPrivate for-profit541
Longwood UniversityFarmvillePublic381
George Mason UniversityFairfaxPublic291
Roanoke CollegeSalemPrivate not-for-profit221
Virginia Wesleyan UniversityVirginia BeachPrivate not-for-profit211
Bluefield UniversityBluefieldPrivate not-for-profit201
Wytheville Community CollegeWythevillePublic171
Mountain Empire Community CollegeBig Stone GapPublic111
Norfolk State UniversityNorfolkPublic111
Ferrum CollegeFerrumPrivate not-for-profit61

What first-line supervisors of correctional officers earn in Virginia

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

Median annual in Virginia
$64,190
Mean annual
$72,230
Jobs in state
2,230
What the range looks like
10th pct$54,600Median$64,19090th pct$99,600
Versus the national median
-17.7%

U.S. median $77,970. Virginia pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.58×

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

Metro areas in Virginia

Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC
$80,260median
290 jobs
Richmond, VA
$67,440median
470 jobs
Charlottesville, VA
$63,600median
70 jobs
Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA
$61,050median
50 jobs
Lynchburg, VA
$58,620median
50 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-2.8%
Decline
Openings per year
4,300
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-1,600
57,100 → 55,500
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent

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 Correctional Officers page.

How to become a First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officer

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Work experience needed
Less than 5 years

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

MonitoringActive ListeningCritical ThinkingSpeakingReading ComprehensionWriting

The same job in other states

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

Related careers in Virginia

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 4 majors mapped to First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 43.0100Criminal Justice and Corrections, General
  • 43.0102Corrections
  • 43.0104Criminal Justice/Safety Studies
  • 43.0113Corrections Administration

Common questions

Answers for people weighing first-line supervisors of correctional officers programs in Virginia.

What degree do you need to become a First-Line Supervisors of 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 Criminal Justice/Safety Studies, which awarded 2,760 degrees in Virginia in 2024-25, 98.9% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officer?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Criminal Justice and Corrections. Together they graduate about 2,790 people a year in Virginia.

How much do first-line supervisors of correctional officers earn in Virginia?+

The median is $64,190 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 17.7% below the U.S. median of $77,970. 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 correctional officers growing?+

BLS projects a -2.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 4,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

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

16 institutions in Virginia reported graduates from at least one of the 2 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 correctional officers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Correctional Supervisor, Correctional Officer Captain among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 33-1011.

First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers in other statesTexasCaliforniaFloridaArizonaNorth CarolinaGeorgiaIndianaPennsylvania

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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