Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary
Teach courses in criminal justice, corrections, and law enforcement administration. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.
Most important skills
- Speaking
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
- Active Learning
- Learning Strategies
- Instructing
Key knowledge
- Education and Training
- English Language
- Law and Government
- Public Safety and Security
- Customer and Personal Service
- Computers and Electronics
- Administration and Management
- Psychology
What the work involves
- Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
- Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.
- Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, and papers.
- Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
- Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as criminal law, defensive policing, and investigation techniques.
- Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
- Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction.
- Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Investigative, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Master's Degree (38.9% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (39.4%)
- On-the-job training
- None or short demonstration (42.5%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Higher on contact with others than 56% of occupations compared | 55% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 80% of occupations compared | 59% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 91% of occupations compared | 28% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 89% of occupations compared | 69% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 62% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Higher on conflict situations than 52% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 53% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 88% of occupations compared | 42% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: very low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 4.89%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 39.62%
- Constant contact with others: 55.49%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 14.86%
- Important: 10.43%
- Very important: 15.47%
- Extremely important: 59.24%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2019
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 9.94%
- Fairly important: 14.94%
- Important: 20.37%
- Very important: 28.49%
- Extremely important: 26.26%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2019
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 4.89%
- Some freedom: 25.73%
- A lot of freedom: 69.38%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2019
Time pressure
- Never: 3.06%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 1.86%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 37.71%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 34.95%
- Every day: 22.42%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2019
Conflict situations
- Never: 13.25%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 37.42%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 17.8%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 12.03%
- Every day: 19.49%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 12.99%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 36.83%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 26.18%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 14.55%
- Every day: 9.45%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2019
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 42.28%
- Fairly serious: 27.38%
- Serious: 12.7%
- Very serious: 9.17%
- Extremely serious: 8.46%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2019
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O*NET-SOC 25-1111.00 · SOC 25-1111 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8