Career Explorer Education
Changing shape
Criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary
Teach courses in criminal justice, corrections, and law enforcement administration. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.
Among the careers AI is changing fastest: more resilient than 15% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is high (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it high), and US jobs are projected to change by +1.5% by 2035, slower than average. The work leans on creative vision and emotional intelligence.
AI can do many of the tasks, and hiring is expected to grow slower than average or to shrink. The job is likely to change, so build the human parts of it.
- Median pay (2025)
- $76,590
- Job growth to 2035
- +1.5%
- Openings a year
- 1,100
- People doing it (2025)
- 15,700
- Usual route in
- Doctorate or professional degree
Where people already use AI for this work
- Teach academic or vocational subjects
- Advise others on educational or vocational matters
- Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Assess student capabilities, needs, or performance
- Maintain operational records
- Develop educational programs, plans, or procedures
What the work looks like
- Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as criminal law, defensive policing, and investigation techniques.
- Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
- Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, and papers.
- Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
- Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Computer science teachers, postsecondaryGrows with AI, Index 22, +4.9%
- Political science teachers, postsecondaryChanging shape, Index 19, +2.5%
- Forestry and conservation science teachers, postsecondaryChanging shape, Index 16, +2.8%
- Atmospheric, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondaryChanging shape, Index 16, +2.4%
Also known as: Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Criminal Justice Professor, Professor, Adjunct Instructor, Adjunct Professor, Criminal Justice Instructor, Digital Forensics Instructor.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.