Criminal Justice Schools and Careers in Colorado Springs, CO

Updated September 28, 2026

Colorado Springs criminal justice careers run through the Colorado Springs Police Department, El Paso County’s court and corrections system, and Colorado’s statewide POST certification process for peace officers. Security guards here earn a median $42,670 a year, and first-line police supervisors median $122,420, per May 2025 BLS data for the metro area. Requirements and pay vary widely by role and by agency.

The Colorado Springs Police Department runs five substations across the city, each one covering its own patrol division, and it’s the department most local criminal justice careers eventually touch, whether directly or through a partner agency. Corrections, courts, and private security fill out the rest of the field here. Requirements, pay, and hiring paths differ by role and by agency, so here’s what to expect before you pick one.

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How to Get Certified as a Peace Officer in Colorado

Colorado doesn’t leave peace-officer certification to individual departments. The Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board, housed in the Attorney General’s Office, sets statewide minimum certification standards, and individual agencies can add their own hiring requirements on top of them. To become a POST-certified peace officer in Colorado, you’ll generally need to:

Hold a high school diploma or equivalency, along with Colorado’s other statutory minimum qualifications for peace officers.
Complete a POST-approved basic academy. Coursework covers firearms, defensive tactics, traffic law, and use-of-force policy. CPR and first aid training are part of the academy curriculum, not a separate credential you need going in.
Pass the Colorado POST certification examination. Finishing the academy doesn’t make you certified by itself. You still need to pass this exam and meet POST’s other certification requirements, and you have two years after academy completion to do it.
Clear a background investigation, part of Colorado’s broader peace-officer employment standards. POST can revoke certification later for a felony conviction or certain misdemeanors, even years into a career.

Colorado allows different paths into the academy. Some agencies sponsor recruits through their own POST-approved academy before hiring them; others expect applicants to complete a POST-approved academy program independently and apply once already certified. Confirm which path a specific Colorado Springs-area department uses before you commit to one.

Local Career Options and What They Pay

Requirements and hiring paths differ by role and by employer, so don’t treat these as one standardized track. As of May 2025, here’s what each pays in the Colorado Springs metro area, and how each field is projected to grow statewide through 2034:

Career	Colorado Springs Median Wage	Colorado Job Growth (2024-34)
Security Guard	$42,670	+6%
Correctional Officer and Jailer	$57,080	-15%
Police and Sheriff’s Patrol Officer	$91,580	+9%
Detective and Criminal Investigator	$85,750	-5%
First-Line Supervisor of Police and Detectives	$122,420	+6%

Correctional officer hiring is projected to shrink statewide through 2034, while patrol officer and supervisor roles are both growing. That’s worth weighing regardless of which entry point you’re considering.

May 2025 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary figures for Security Guards, Correctional Officers and Bailiffs, Police and Detectives, and (for first-line supervisors) BLS’s occupations not covered in detail page. Long-term (2024-34) job growth projections from the US Department of Labor-sponsored resource, ProjectionsCentral, a separate source from the BLS wage figures above. Wage figures reflect the Colorado Springs metro area; job growth figures reflect Colorado statewide projections. Neither reflects school-specific information, and conditions at any one agency may vary. Data accessed September 2026.

Where to Study Near Colorado Springs

Three schools in the Colorado Springs area offer programs in criminal justice or an adjacent protective-services field, per federal education data (institution file May 2025, field-of-study file April 2025):

School	Type	Program Areas Offered
Pikes Peak State College	Public, 4-year	Associate and certificate in Criminal Justice, Legal Support Services, Fire Protection, and Homeland Security
University of Colorado Colorado Springs	Public, 4-year	Bachelor’s, master’s, and graduate certificate in Criminal Justice; graduate certificate in Homeland Security
Colorado Technical University-Colorado Springs	Private for-profit, 4-year	Associate through doctoral in Criminal Justice; master’s in Homeland Security; bachelor’s in Security Science and Technology

Program lineups shift between catalog years, and this federal data doesn’t distinguish an on-campus delivery model from an online-heavy one, which is worth flagging in particular for Colorado Technical University, since it markets many programs online at the institution level. Confirm current enrollment, delivery format, and admission requirements directly with each school before applying.

Tuition varies as much as the programs do: a resident undergraduate credit hour at UCCS has run $313, and a graduate credit hour $586 regardless of residency. Confirm both against UCCS’s current rate schedule, since per-credit rates and mandatory fees change by academic year.

Because programs and pricing shift, it’s worth researching more than one option. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, most first-time, full-time freshmen now apply to more than four colleges before deciding. Contact a few, and compare what each one actually offers.

If you’re weighing corrections work locally, the Cheyenne Mountain Re-Entry Center has been described as a medium-security reentry facility in the area, with roles reportedly running beyond corrections officer to case manager, substance abuse counselor, nurse, paralegal, and security manager. Confirm the facility’s current name, status, and open roles directly before relying on this.

School and program data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, institution file May 2025 and field-of-study file April 2025. Data accessed September 2026.

Building a Network in Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs has a working community of criminal justice professionals through groups like the Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado, the Colorado Springs Police Protective Association, and Pikes Peak Paralegals. Showing up to a meeting while you’re still in school is one of the more direct ways to hear about openings before they’re posted.

Between classes, an internship, and any part-time work, commuting adds up. The Colorado Springs Transit Service runs bus and metro routes across the city if you’re trying to keep transportation costs down while you study.

Criminal Justice Schools in Other Major Colorado Cities

Denver

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Colorado Springs police departments require a college degree?

No. A college degree isn’t required for Colorado POST basic certification, which runs on a high school diploma or equivalency, an approved academy, an exam, and a background check. Individual Colorado Springs-area agencies and specific positions may still set additional requirements, so confirm with the department you’re applying to.

How do you become a certified peace officer in Colorado?

You’ll need to complete a POST-approved basic academy, pass the Colorado POST certification examination within two years of finishing the academy, and clear a background investigation as part of Colorado’s broader peace-officer employment standards. Colorado POST, under the state Attorney General’s Office, sets these as statewide minimum standards, and individual agencies can add requirements on top of them.

What does a correctional officer earn in Colorado Springs?

Correctional officers and jailers in the Colorado Springs metro area had a median wage of $57,080 as of May 2025, according to BLS data. Statewide, corrections hiring is projected to shrink 15% through 2034 per ProjectionsCentral, so it’s worth checking a specific facility’s hiring outlook directly.

Is there a four-year criminal justice degree program in Colorado Springs?

Yes. The University of Colorado Colorado Springs offers a bachelor’s, master’s, and graduate certificate in Criminal Justice, and Colorado Technical University-Colorado Springs offers associate through doctoral programs in the field, per federal education data. Pikes Peak State College covers the associate and certificate level. Confirm current enrollment and format directly with each school.

Which criminal justice careers are growing fastest in Colorado?

Among the roles covered here, Police and Sheriff’s Patrol Officers are projected to grow fastest, up 9% statewide through 2034, per ProjectionsCentral data. Corrections is moving the opposite direction, projected down 15% over the same period. These are separate figures from the BLS wage data above.

Key Takeaways

A degree isn’t required for POST certification. Colorado’s peace officer certification runs on a high school diploma or equivalency, an approved academy, an exam, and a background check, though specific agencies and positions can require more.
Pay varies widely by role. Security guards in Colorado Springs median $42,670; first-line police supervisors median $122,420, per May 2025 BLS data.
Corrections hiring is contracting. Colorado corrections roles are projected to shrink 15% through 2034, while patrol and supervisory roles are growing, per ProjectionsCentral.
Three local schools cover criminal justice and adjacent programs. Pikes Peak State College, UCCS, and Colorado Technical University-Colorado Springs, per federal education data.

If tuition is what’s holding you back, Criminal Justice Programs keeps a running list of scholarships built specifically for criminal justice students, with eligibility rules and deadlines worth checking before you settle on a program.

Looking beyond this city? Read the full guide to Criminal Justice Schools in Colorado.