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Public Safety & Criminal Justice programs at U.S. community colleges

Police academy, corrections, EMT, paralegal, and homeland-security pathways. This guide explains how the credential is structured at the two-year level, what to look for when comparing programs across institutions, and which community colleges in our federal-data index report the highest enrollment in this field.

What the credential covers

Programs in Public Safety & Criminal Justice at U.S. community colleges are typically offered as Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degrees designed for direct entry into the field, as Associate of Science (AS) or Associate of Arts (AA) tracks designed to transfer toward a bachelor's degree, and as shorter occupational certificates that stack into a full degree. Credit-hour requirements vary by state and by program, but most associate programs are sized at roughly sixty semester credit hours of coursework, completable in two academic years of full-time study or longer at part-time pace. Certificate programs are typically twelve to thirty credit hours and finish within a single academic year.

The federal Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) tracks Public Safety & Criminal Justice as a distinct family, which is what allows DegreeMapper to report the share of credentials each community college awards in this area. The percentages on each college profile reflect the fraction of total credentials awarded in the most recent reporting year that fell into this CIP family — a useful proxy for how seriously the institution invests in the program.

What to look for when comparing programs

For occupational tracks, the critical questions are accreditation of the program itself (separate from institutional accreditation), clinical or apprenticeship placement availability, pass rates on the licensing exam where one exists, and employer relationships in the local labor market. For transfer tracks, the critical questions are articulation agreements with specific four-year institutions, course-by-course credit equivalencies, and whether the program participates in any statewide transfer guarantee.

Cost is rarely the deciding factor among community colleges within a state, because published tuition tends to fall within a narrow band. Cost does matter when comparing community-college pathways against four-year alternatives: starting at a community college and transferring typically reduces total degree cost by tens of thousands of dollars, even after accounting for any credit loss in transfer.

Top community colleges enrolling in Public Safety & Criminal Justice

The thirty community colleges below report the highest share of credentials awarded in Public Safety & Criminal Justice, drawn from the federal College Scorecard. A high share is not by itself a quality signal — it indicates focus and scale, which usually translate into more program options, more clinical or lab capacity, and stronger employer pipelines for that field.

  1. Valley Forge Military CollegeWayne, PA44%
  2. Wor-Wic Community CollegeSalisbury, MD27%
  3. Camden County CollegeBlackwood, NJ26%
  4. Fond du Lac Tribal and Community CollegeCloquet, MN23%
  5. College of the SiskiyousWeed, CA23%
  6. Moreno Valley CollegeMoreno Valley, CA22%
  7. Kent State University at TrumbullWarren, OH21%
  8. Chipola CollegeMarianna, FL21%
  9. Community College of Baltimore CountyBaltimore, MD20%
  10. Passaic County Community CollegePaterson, NJ19%
  11. Walters State Community CollegeMorristown, TN18%
  12. Generations CollegeChicago, IL18%
  13. Alexandria Technical & Community CollegeAlexandria, MN18%
  14. Ulster County Community CollegeStone Ridge, NY17%
  15. Herkimer County Community CollegeHerkimer, NY17%
  16. New Mexico Junior CollegeHobbs, NM17%
  17. Lakes Region Community CollegeLaconia, NH16%
  18. College of the Muscogee NationOkmulgee, OK15%
  19. Texas Southmost CollegeBrownsville, TX15%
  20. Hawaii Community CollegeHilo, HI15%
  21. East Los Angeles CollegeMonterey Park, CA15%
  22. Luna Community CollegeLas Vegas, NM15%
  23. Rose State CollegeMidwest City, OK15%
  24. Blackfeet Community CollegeBrowning, MT14%
  25. Leech Lake Tribal CollegeCass Lake, MN14%
  26. San Bernardino Valley CollegeSan Bernardino, CA14%
  27. Polk State CollegeWinter Haven, FL14%
  28. United Tribes Technical CollegeBismarck, ND13%
  29. Shorter CollegeN Little Rock, AR12%
  30. Honolulu Community CollegeHonolulu, HI12%