Criminal Justice Programs in New York

Updated September 17, 2026

New York offers criminal justice programs at more than 100 colleges and universities, from certificates to doctoral degrees. Police officers here earn a median $92,790 a year (BLS, May 2025). Hiring runs through Civil Service and each agency’s own requirements, with basic training set by the state’s Municipal Police Training Council, so exact qualifications vary by department.

New York City still carries an outsized reputation for crime, but the day-to-day work of criminal justice runs statewide, not just in the five boroughs. New York’s police academies have been part of an ongoing shift toward progressive changes in police academy training, changes happening not just in New York City, but all over the state. Those changes touch every branch of the field, from policing to the courts to corrections. Here’s what a career in criminal justice looks like across New York today, from the schools that train you to the paycheck at the end of it.

Featured Programs:

Where to Study Criminal Justice in New York

Per U.S. Department of Education data, 101 New York institutions offer a program somewhere in the criminal justice family, from certificates through doctoral degrees. That count includes 2 online-only providers headquartered in the state. The rest run in-person, on-campus programs. The table below is a sample, not the full list. Confirm current enrollment, program format, and admission requirements directly with any school before applying.

Institution	City	Control	Format	Credential Levels Offered
CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice	New York	Public	Campus	Associate, Bachelor’s, Master’s, certificates
University at Albany	Albany	Public	Campus	Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctoral, graduate certificate
SUNY Buffalo State University	Buffalo	Public	Campus	Bachelor’s, Master’s
Farmingdale State College	Farmingdale	Public	Campus	Associate, Bachelor’s
Cayuga County Community College	Auburn	Public	Campus	Associate, undergraduate certificate
Syracuse University	Syracuse	Private nonprofit	Campus	Bachelor’s, Master’s, certificates
Monroe College	Bronx	Private for-profit	Campus	Associate, Bachelor’s, Master’s
Excelsior University	Albany	Private nonprofit	Online/Distance	Associate through Master’s, certificates

Criminal Justice Careers in New York

The broad field of criminal justice is comprised of three branches: law enforcement, the courts, and corrections. You can work on the front lines as a law enforcement officer, within the prison system as a corrections officer, or behind the scenes as a forensic scientist. Here’s what the job outlook and pay actually look like in New York, branch by branch.

Law Enforcement Careers in the State of New York

Law enforcement professionals investigate, prevent, and analyze crimes. You can work for a government agency, for a company that needs investigative services, or on your own.

Career	Job Outlook (NY, 2024-34)	Annual Median Salary (NY)
Police officers	+5.6%	$92,790
Private detectives and investigators	Not available in this dataset	Not available in this dataset

New York policing hiring doesn’t run through one universal process. Depending on the agency and title, you may need to pass a Civil Service examination and rank high enough on the resulting eligibility list to receive an appointment offer, on top of a fingerprint-based criminal history check and other background-investigation components set by the state. Required basic training follows separately, through the Municipal Police Training Council’s (MPTC) approved Basic Course for Police Officers or an equivalent pathway, administered through the Division of Criminal Justice Services’ Office of Public Safety.

A quick note on that second row: BLS OEWS does track Private Detectives and Investigators (SOC 33-9021) as its own occupation nationally, but this site’s current wage dataset doesn’t include a file for it, so there’s no New York-specific figure to publish here without pulling from a source outside our verified dataset. The role still exists and still hires in New York. We just can’t cite a number for it from what’s confirmed here.

Careers in the New York State Courts

The court system involves professionals within the legal field. Attorneys and judges are the most commonly known professions in the courts, but there are others, such as paralegals, that don’t require a law degree.

Career	Job Outlook (NY, 2024-34)	Annual Median Salary (NY)
Paralegals and legal assistants	-4.7%	$68,410
Prosecutors	+0.3% (Lawyers, BLS category)	$207,860 (BLS Lawyers category)

Prosecutors are lawyers, and BLS reports their wages under the broader Lawyers occupational category rather than as a separate line for prosecutors specifically. The $207,860 figure above is the statewide BLS median for all New York lawyers. BLS does not publish a prosecutor-specific figure.

Corrections Careers in New York State

The corrections branch involves working in the prison and parole systems in the state. You might work with inmates within the prison system in a variety of capacities, or with parolees who are out of prison.

Career	Job Outlook (NY, 2024-34)	Annual Median Salary (NY)
Correctional officers and jailers	-5.6%	$76,820
Probation officers	+5.3%	$80,350

As of the 2025 BLS wage data, correctional officer employment in New York is projected to fall 5.6% through 2034. Probation officer employment is projected to grow 5.3% over the same period.

May 2025 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary figures for Police and Sheriff’s Patrol Officers, Paralegals and Legal Assistants, Lawyers, Correctional Officers and Jailers, and Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists. Long-term (2024-34) job growth projections from the US Department of Labor-sponsored resource, ProjectionsCentral. Figures reflect state-level data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed September 2026.

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.

Criminal Justice Education Resources in New York

A good place to start when looking for education information within criminal justice is the website of the relevant state agency. Here are some of these agencies, and the types of careers they oversee.

Corrections: Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Careers include corrections officer, corrections counselor, and parole officer. Has information about what the different careers entail, training requirements, exams, and how to apply.
Police officers: New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. Careers include all types of police officers. Minimum training standards are set by the Municipal Police Training Council and administered through DCJS’s Office of Public Safety; this page covers training details, requirements, and a training calendar.
Highway patrol officers: New York State Police. Careers include police officers and highway patrol officers/state troopers. Provides steps for becoming a police officer or highway patrol officer in the state of New York.
Justice system: Office of the Attorney General. Careers include attorneys, investigators, and legal support analysts. Discusses how to apply for a job in New York’s Office of the Attorney General and lists job vacancies.

Innovations in Criminal Justice in New York

New York, like many states, has explored ways to reduce reliance on incarceration for certain populations, including juveniles and people with mental health needs, alongside its traditional corrections work. Program details and eligibility change, so readers who want the current specifics on state policy should check directly with DOCCS rather than rely on a general summary here.

Police academy training in New York keeps evolving. The Municipal Police Training Council periodically revises the Basic Course for Police Officers curriculum, including changes effective in 2024 and 2025, and many programs now put recruits through simulated crisis scenarios meant to sharpen judgment under pressure. Academies are also updating counterterrorism training as that threat picture shifts.

Major New York Cities

New York

Search Your State

Main Criminal Justice Governmental Agencies and Entities in New York

Office of the Attorney General: The Attorney General is the top lawyer in the State of New York and is charged with defending the state’s citizens and natural environment. The office oversees a number of divisions and bureaus under the purview of criminal justice, social justice, economic justice, and administration. The office and divisions within it hire attorneys, scientists, legal assistants, and investigators.
Department of Corrections and Community Supervision: This department oversees people held in New York’s state correctional facilities, as well as parolees under community supervision. Local jails are generally operated by counties or New York City, not DOCCS. The department hires corrections officers, parole officers, and counselors.
New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services: This agency functions in a variety of capacities, including providing law enforcement professional development opportunities, collecting and managing state crime data, and managing criminal records data. The agency also houses and administers the Missing Persons Clearinghouse, Sex Offender Registry, and DNA databank. Because the agency oversees 12 program areas, there is a wide variety of job types within the division, including criminalists, criminal justice researchers, investigators, and data analysts.
New York State Police: This agency oversees state law enforcement, including state highways, crime prevention and investigation, and emergency response. Careers within this agency include police officers, highway patrol officers, criminal detectives, and forensic scientists.
Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement: Housed within the New York State Department of Health, the bureau works to enforce drug laws by investigating and preventing drug-related crimes and trafficking in the state. Positions within the bureau include investigators and forensic scientists.
New York State Unified Court System: This is the judicial branch for the state of New York, which oversees the New York Court of Appeals, the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court, the state’s Supreme Court, and local courts around the state. Within the court system, you will find attorneys, law clerks, court analysts, bailiffs, and court reporters.

Resources for Criminal Justice Students and Professionals in New York

You can find a host of resources through the numerous professional organizations in New York, each supporting a different community within criminal justice.

New York State Association of Police Benevolent Associations: The largest police organization in the state of New York, the NYA PBA represents the various unions (or PBAs) around the state, including local, city, and state police, park police and forest rangers, and port authority and waterfront commission police. Divisions include the Police Benevolent Society of the City of New York, which represents approximately 24,000 New York police officers, and the Police Benevolent Association of the New York State Troopers, which represents state troopers.
New York City Police Foundation: This non-profit is dedicated to improving public safety. It has developed programs in areas such as neighborhood policing and counterterrorism, and provides information about scholarships and professional development.
New York State Sheriff’s Association: This association supports New York State sheriffs by providing public safety programs and a calendar of training events and conferences.
New York State Probation Officers Association: Prospective or current probation officers can find training information, news about criminal justice legislation, and links to criminal justice organizations in New York State.
New York State Association of Police Chiefs: This professional organization serves as an information hub for police chiefs in New York state. It publishes the Chief’s Chronicle and provides links to podcasts and resources on topics ranging from elder abuse to children of incarcerated parents.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a college degree to become a police officer in New York?

There’s no single statewide college-degree requirement covering every New York police agency. Some agencies and titles require college credits or a degree, others don’t. Hiring runs through Civil Service and each agency’s own qualifications, and basic training completion is required through the applicable Municipal Police Training Council (MPTC) pathway.

How much do criminal justice jobs pay in New York?

It varies a lot by role. Police officers earn a median of $92,790 a year in New York, while paralegals earn closer to $68,410. Lawyers have a statewide BLS median of $207,860. BLS does not provide that figure specifically for prosecutors.

How many schools in New York offer a criminal justice program?

Per U.S. Department of Education data, 101 New York institutions offer a program somewhere in the criminal justice family, at credential levels ranging from certificate to doctoral.

Which criminal justice career in New York has the strongest job growth?

Among the careers on this page, probation officers (+5.3%) and police officers (+5.6%) are both projected to grow in New York through 2034, per ProjectionsCentral. Correctional officer (-5.6%) and paralegal (-4.7%) roles are both projected to shrink over the same period.

Key Takeaways

New York policing hiring isn’t one-size-fits-all – Civil Service exams, agency-specific requirements, and MPTC-set training combine differently depending on the department and title you’re targeting.
Pay varies more by branch than by badge – a police officer and a probation officer in New York can be $12,000 apart in median pay, and BLS’s lawyer median runs more than double either one.
101 schools, one caveat – New York has one of the largest concentrations of CJ programs in the country, but confirm any specific program’s current status directly with the school.
Corrections is shrinking, probation is growing – correctional officer employment in New York is projected to fall 5.6% through 2034 while probation officer employment grows 5.3%, per ProjectionsCentral.

If you’re weighing the cost of a degree against these salary numbers, start with what a program actually costs at the schools above, and confirm current tuition and financial aid directly with each one before you apply.

Featured Programs: