How to Become a Criminologist

Updated September 28, 2026

two criminologists studying a crime scene

There’s no standard license or certification required to work as a criminologist. BLS classifies the role under sociologists, an occupation that typically requires at least a master’s degree, with some employers preferring a Ph.D. A bachelor’s in criminology, sociology, or criminal justice can still lead to related research and criminal-justice roles.

Brochures often use criminology and criminal justice interchangeably, but they’re not the same discipline. Criminology studies why people commit crimes: the psychology, the sociology, the statistical patterns behind offending. Criminal justice studies what happens to someone after they commit one, from arrest through sentencing. If you’re drawn to the “why” more than the “what happens next,” criminology is the degree built for that. And if your path eventually leads into a separately regulated profession, such as psychology, private investigation, or certain law-enforcement jobs, licensing and exam requirements will vary by state and employer, so check your target role directly rather than assuming criminology’s own rules apply.

Whether you want to help reduce crime rates, support criminal justice reform, prevent crime, or improve quality of life, studying criminology can put you on that path.

Featured Programs:

What Does a Criminologist Do?

At its core, the job is two things: studying data and turning it into something someone else can act on.

Typical Duties

Conducting research. You’re analyzing crime patterns to figure out what predicts and deters future offenses. That data ranges from behavioral and biological profiles of offenders down to geographic crime mapping.
Developing theories. Raw data doesn’t help anyone until it’s organized into a framework other researchers and practitioners can apply to understand crime patterns.
Writing reports. Research and analysis are only the first half of the job. You also have to translate the findings into something a colleague, a department head, or the public can actually use.
Studying case records. Some criminologists work with individual case files as part of broader research, but actual crime-scene evidence collection and analysis is handled by investigators and forensic specialists, not criminologists.
Shaping policy. If you go the public-policy route, you’re taking the research and pointing it directly at specific policies, then studying whether those policies actually move the numbers.
Running programs. Turning a theoretical recommendation into an actual program for a specific population or region takes a different skill set: you have to be a systems thinker who can execute, not just theorize.

Common Career Paths

You can specialize by age group, demographic, geographic area, or type of crime. Beyond that, criminology opens doors into:

Corrections
Law enforcement
Criminal investigation for federal and state agencies
Forensics
Judicial administration
Counseling
Medical investigation
Private investigation
Teaching
Other sociology-adjacent careers

Career Outlook and Salary Information for Criminologists

Salaries and outlooks in this field vary by the specific role you land, not a single “criminologist” figure. Here’s what several related career paths pay, as of May 2025 BLS data:

Detectives and Criminal Investigators earn a national median of $93,790 a year, according to the May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey. That figure covers the investigative side of the field, the work most people picture when they hear “criminologist,” even though the two titles aren’t interchangeable.

Law enforcement workers broadly had a national median annual wage of $72,020 in May 2025.

Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers at the postsecondary level earned a national median of $76,590 in May 2025, for those who take the research and put it in front of a classroom instead.

May 2025 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary figures for Detectives and Criminal Investigators, Law Enforcement Workers, and Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary. Figures reflect national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed September 2026.

How to Become a Criminologist

In order to become a successful criminologist, you’ll need to complete the following steps:

1Earn Your Degree
Criminologists are generally classified by BLS as sociologists, an occupation that typically requires at least a master’s degree. A bachelor’s degree in criminology, sociology, psychology, or criminal justice can still lead into related criminal-justice and research-support roles while you decide whether to go further.
2Get an Internship
Look for placements with a police department, a law office, a state or federal government office, a community justice organization, or a group that conducts research in the field.
3Check Licensing for Your Specific Path
There’s no standard license for the criminologist title itself. But if your path leads into a separately regulated profession such as psychology, private investigation, or certain law-enforcement roles, licensing and exam requirements vary by state and employer, so check your target role’s specifics before you commit to a program.
4Pursue a Criminologist Position
Jobs turn up inside the FBI, ATF, other federal, state, and local agencies, police departments, consulting firms, and colleges and universities. Most of them won’t have “criminologist” in the title.
5Join a Professional Association
Join an association such as the American Society of Criminology, the International Society of Criminology, or the Law and Society Association.
6Stay on Top of Current Events
Conferences build your network and keep your knowledge of the field current.
7Get an Advanced Degree
A master’s or doctorate opens up more responsibility and higher pay, and per BLS, a master’s is already the typical bar to enter the occupation.
8Become a Sub-Field Expert
Master a sub-field of criminology. It’s how you build a reputation and get noticed for the harder assignments.

Degree Programs in Criminology

An associate degree can get you into entry-level criminal justice service positions, but a bachelor’s or higher is what moves you forward in criminology specifically. Programs are built to sharpen critical thinking and keep pace with how much data and technology have changed the field.

Bachelor’s Degree

A full-time bachelor’s in criminology takes at least four years. If you already hold an associate degree, a bachelor’s completion track focused on criminology can take as little as two.

Every bachelor’s program combines general education credits with criminology-specific major requirements. Expect a multidisciplinary course load: psychology, sociology, statistics, data analysis, history, and public policy all show up.

A bachelor’s prepares you for entry into human and social services, public policy, juvenile justice, and forensics, plus direct-service roles like security, probation, and police work.

Master’s Degree

A master’s is where you build the technical and analytical skills you need to move into management-level positions, and it’s typically two years full-time.

Programs vary, but most stay broadly multidisciplinary, letting you specialize later in forensics or cybersecurity if that’s where your interest lands. Coursework ranges from theoretical (comparative criminal justice, foundations in criminology) to applied (statistics, computer applications in criminal justice). Most programs run at least 30 credit hours plus either a thesis or a practicum to close it out.

Doctorate Degree

If you want to push research forward in criminology, a doctorate is the credential for it. Most Ph.D. holders land in higher-education research institutions, though a growing number now work in the private sector and government.

Completion time depends heavily on what you’re bringing in the door: expect at least four years, often five or more. Coursework mirrors the master’s level but usually runs deeper, and some programs fold a master’s into the Ph.D. track along the way.

The dissertation is the hardest and most variable part. Budget at least a year for it: proposal, proposal defense, data collection, draft reviews, and dissertation defense, in that order.

Online Programs

More master’s programs, and a growing number of bachelor’s, now offer online coursework. If you’re already working in criminal justice, an online program lets you apply what you’re learning directly to your job, and it usually saves you money since you’re not paying for transportation or a move.

The tradeoff is less face time with faculty and classmates, and fewer built-in chances for hands-on fieldwork. Programs are getting better at solving both, but it’s still worth weighing before you commit.

Featured Programs:

Other Career Paths for Those With a Criminology Degree

Not everyone with a criminology degree ends up in research. Public-facing roles are common too, including:

Federal law enforcement investigator
Social worker
Community development worker
Prison officer
Psychologist
Mediator
Victim’s advocate
Criminal profiler

Spotlight: Featured Criminology Degree Programs

The list below draws on rankings and government data, including the Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), and covers both bachelor’s and master’s programs, on-campus and online.

University of Florida, Gainesville

UF’s criminology program sits inside the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and leans into a liberal-arts foundation: you’re trained to think critically about the societal issues behind crime and the law before you specialize. The B.A. is fully available online, so the elite-institution name doesn’t require relocating for it.

Degree Programs: B.A. in Criminology and Law, combined B.A./M.A., M.A., Joint M.A./J.D., Ph.D.

Tuition: $129.18 per credit (resident), $552.62 per credit (non-resident)

Online: Rated highly for the online B.A. in Criminology and Law

University of Maryland, College Park

UMD’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice covers the three pillars of the system: courts, policing, and corrections. The program is research-oriented even at the bachelor’s level, and its faculty are internationally recognized voices in the field.

Degree Programs: Bachelor’s, master’s, joint M.A./J.D., Ph.D.

Tuition: $8,651/year resident, $31,688/year non-resident (undergraduate); $731/credit hour resident, $1,625/credit hour non-resident (graduate)

Online: No fully online criminology degree, but a Shady Grove, MD satellite campus for undergrads and a master’s partnership with Nanjing Normal University Law School

University of California, Irvine

UCI runs in-person bachelor’s and Ph.D. programs alongside an online master’s built for working professionals. The only in-person requirement is a five-day immersion course.

Degree Programs: Bachelor’s, Master of Advanced Studies in Criminology, Law, and Society (online), Master of Legal and Forensic Psychology (online), Ph.D.

Tuition: $11,442/year resident, $40,434/year non-resident (undergraduate); $11,442/year resident, $26,544/year non-resident (graduate, full-time)

Online: Rated highly for both online master’s programs

Florida State University

FSU’s College of Criminology and Criminal Justice runs bachelor’s through doctoral programs, with completely online bachelor’s-completion and master’s tracks. You can choose a research-focused path or an applied one heavy on statistics and computer applications.

Degree Programs: Bachelor’s (on-campus and online completion), Master’s in Criminology (on-campus and online), Master’s in Computer Criminology, joint Master’s in Social Work, joint Master’s in Public Affairs, Ph.D.

Tuition: Undergraduate: $215.55/credit resident on-campus, $721.10/credit non-resident on-campus, $180.49/credit resident online, $686.04/credit non-resident online; Graduate: $479.32/credit resident on-campus, $1,110.72/credit non-resident on-campus, $444.26/credit resident online, $1,075.66/credit non-resident online

Online: Rated highly for both bachelor’s and master’s

University of Nebraska, Omaha

UNO’s program leans sociological and prepares you for direct-service work: law enforcement, corrections, victim’s advocacy. Research tracks are available for master’s and doctoral students, and both bachelor’s and master’s degrees are offered fully online.

Degree Programs: B.S. in Criminology and Criminal Justice, M.A., M.S., M.S./Master of Social Work joint degree, Ph.D.

Tuition: $9,522/year resident, $25,828/year non-resident (undergraduate, full-time); $7,696/year resident, $18,882/year non-resident (graduate, full-time)

Online: Rated highly for both bachelor’s and master’s

Michigan State University

MSU’s School of Criminal Justice runs bachelor’s through doctoral programs, with three fully online master’s tracks: criminal justice, law enforcement intelligence, and judicial administration. Over 30 faculty span public health, history, environmental social science, law, and criminology.

Degree Programs: B.A. in Criminal Justice, M.S. in Criminal Justice (on-campus and online), M.S. in Forensic Science (on-campus only), M.S. in Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysis (online), M.S. in Judicial Administration (online), Ph.D.

Tuition: Undergraduate: $482–$555/credit resident, $1,325–$1,385/credit non-resident; Graduate: $745–$785/credit resident, $745 (online)–$1,544/credit non-resident

Online: Rated highly for master’s in criminal justice, law enforcement intelligence analysis, and judicial administration

Northeastern University

Northeastern’s School of Criminology & Criminal Justice runs on an experiential-learning model at every level. The bachelor’s uses a co-op structure, alternating classroom time with internships, service-learning, and research work.

Degree Programs: B.S. in Criminal Justice, M.S. in Criminology and Criminal Justice, Joint M.S./J.D., Ph.D., Joint Ph.D./J.D.

Tuition: $1,577/credit undergraduate ($25,225/term full-time), $1,295/credit graduate

Online: No online degree programs currently offered

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a criminologist the same thing as a criminal profiler?

No. A criminologist studies crime at the population level, looking for patterns across offenders, regions, and time. A criminal profiler works individual cases, building a behavioral picture of a specific unknown offender to help an active investigation.

Do I need a Ph.D. to work as a criminologist?

Not always, but BLS classifies the role under sociologists, an occupation that typically requires at least a master’s degree, and some employers prefer a Ph.D. A bachelor’s alone will usually route you into an adjacent criminal-justice or research-support role instead of a criminologist title specifically.

What’s the difference between criminology and criminal justice as majors?

Criminology is about why crime happens: the sociology and psychology behind offending. Criminal justice is about what happens after: policing, courts, and corrections. The two disciplines overlap heavily in coursework, but they’re asking different questions.

Can I become a criminologist with an online degree?

Yes. Several of the programs above, including Florida State’s and Nebraska-Omaha’s, offer online bachelor’s and master’s tracks, and UC Irvine’s online master’s is built specifically for working professionals already in the field.

Key Takeaways

No standard license required – BLS lists no licensing requirement for the sociologist classification criminologists fall under; licensing only enters the picture if you move into a separately regulated profession.
A master’s is the typical entry point – A bachelor’s opens adjacent criminal-justice roles, but the criminologist classification itself typically calls for a master’s degree or higher.
Pay depends on the specific role, not the title – Detectives and Criminal Investigators ($93,790 median) and postsecondary CJ teachers ($76,590 median) show how wide the range runs across roles a criminology degree can lead to.
The discipline is the “why,” not the “what happens next” – If policing, courts, and corrections interest you more than the causes of crime itself, criminal justice may be the better-fit major.

Weighing criminology against a more direct route into law enforcement? The career paths above, from criminal profiling to victims’ advocacy, are worth a closer look before you commit to a program.

Read: How to Become a Criminal Profiler