Protective Services Operations Degrees (2026 stats)

Protective Services Operations: what the data shows

Common questions about protective services operations degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.

What is a protective services operations degree?

A Protective Services Operations program is classified under NCES CIP 43.0120 in the Criminal Justice and Corrections field family (43.01).

A program focusing on the principles and techniques of providing physical security protection to clients in various environments and situations. Includes instruction in security intelligence and information resources, operations planning and surveying, operations security, weapons and explosives, defense and offense techniques, security and surveillance systems, communications systems, perimeter and access control, weapons of mass destruction, contingency planning, crowd control, cover and evacuation, combat and vehicle techniques, and applicable legal and administrative responsibilities

IPEDS counted 2 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.

Types of protective services operations degrees and related programs

Other NCES program codes in the 43.01 family with pages on EDsmart Data:

• Corrections (CIP 43.0102)
• Corrections Administration (CIP 43.0113)
• Criminal Justice (CIP 43.0103)
• Criminal Justice - Law Enforcement Administration (CIP 43.0104)
• Criminal Justice - Police Science (CIP 43.0107)
• Criminalistics and Criminal Science (CIP 43.0111)
• Critical Incident Response/Special Police Operations (CIP 43.0119)
• Cultural/Archaelogical Resources Protection (CIP 43.0123)
• Cyber/Computer Forensics and Counterterrorism (CIP 43.0116)
• Financial Forensics and Fraud Investigation (CIP 43.0117)
• Forensic Science and Technology (CIP 43.0106)
• Juvenile Corrections (CIP 43.0110)
• Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysis (CIP 43.0118)
• Law Enforcement Investigation and Interviewing (CIP 43.0114)
• Law Enforcement Record-Keeping and Evidence Management (CIP 43.0115)
• Maritime Law Enforcement (CIP 43.0122)
• Securities Services Administration/Management (CIP 43.0112)
• Security and Loss Prevention Services (CIP 43.0109)
• Suspension and Debarment Investigation (CIP 43.0121)

How long does it take to get a protective services operations degree?

Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 43.0120 in our file:

• 8 Associate (80.0% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
• 2 Bachelor's (20.0% of IPEDS total)—typically four years

Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.

What degree do you need?

For First-Line Supervisors of Protective Service Workers, All Other (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).

O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.

What jobs can you get with a protective services operations degree?

Our degree→occupation mapping links Protective Services Operations to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.

See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.

Is a protective services operations degree worth it?

College Scorecard national medians for the Criminal Justice and Corrections bachelor's program family: median debt $21,330, median earnings $55,378 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.57.

About 5.0% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.

Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $5,220 and median net price is $12,560.

We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.