Whether a College Degree Should Be Mandatory
for Police Recruits
Introduction
Being well-educated and holding a college credential
enhances an individual’s chances for better career
development and creates new opportunities for
personal growth. Education helps people feel, think,
and behave in a way that contributes to their success in
life.
Thus, individuals with higher education qualifications
are more likely to make the right decisions and develop
better ethical and moral principles than uneducated
persons. Despite the significance of higher education,
mandatory college degree for law enforcement
personnel has long been contested. While most police
departments have traditionally required a high school
diploma for job entry positions, a study indicates a
positive correlation between higher education
qualifications and better work performance for recruits
(Edwards, 2019).
Following the recent deaths of unarmed men at the
hands of law enforcement, combined with calls for
police reforms, there has been a nationwide debate
about increasing education requirements for law
enforcers. While police offers may not have needed
diplomas or equivalent college degrees in the past,
times are quickly changing. Law enforcement needs
professionals equipped with 21st-century talents
beyond traditional police academy training.
Arguments Supporting Mandatory College
Education for Police Recruits
College Education Empowers Police Officers to
Better Relate with Others
Better education qualifications can support the
technical training that law enforcement professionals
receive on the job or at the academy. Research
indicates that tertiary education may improve police
interrelationship skills and prepare them for their
career (Edwards, 2019).
In this regard, technical training and college education
are crucial for the police force to effectively perform
their work in the community. Higher learning offers
invaluable chances to learn the work and strategies
employed to tackle difficult situations. In this case,
college enhances officers’ practical skills by
participating in community services, internships, and
even studying abroad. Traditionally, these programs
linked to higher education boost moral reasoning,
critical thinking, and openness to diversity.
Therefore, giving a gun and a badge to young officers
with a high school diploma and only a few months of
technical training and sending them out to the
community is not good enough. The interpersonal
skills accumulated through higher education can help
the police to work with groups and individuals in their
professional and personal capacities. Therefore, if law
enforcers go through college, they may get first-hand
experience and reduce frequent complaints in the
communities they serve.
Tertiary education can help foster more intercultural
awareness among the police force. Thus, when the
professionals in this field become more culturally
sensitive, this will enable them to eradicate any bias or
cultural barriers that impede their work. In this regard,
years in college can assist the police in connecting and
socializing with people from different cultural
backgrounds. As a result, they may begin to recognize
and appreciate other individuals’ values, beliefs,
customs, and sexual orientations and interact with them
without judgment or prejudice. One of the barriers for
law enforcement agencies in effectively executing their
mandate is inadequate experience with people from
diverse backgrounds.
The lack of cultural competencies can inhibit the police
from improving their relationships with the public and
being unable to gain their trust. According to Miles-
Johnson (2019), police misconduct typically transpires
during engagement with public members or when
deployed in high-crime areas or minority-concentrated
neighborhoods, and they feel threatened by the
situation. In this case, law enforcement officers may
not be in a position to get help from the community to
address local criminal activities. Therefore, when
policing diverse people, being culturally aware can
help the police build more connections and contribute
to fewer interpersonal conflicts arising from cultural
differences.
College education can promote better work ethics by
being open to diversity. Experiences from higher
learning institutions can help the police recognize how
biases influence their perceptions and help them
become more accommodating and respectful of people
who are different or unique. Despite recent reforms,
police in the United States have been reported to
unfairly target people of color and ethnic minority
groups when executing stop-and-search policies.
Therefore, police failure to embrace diversity when
performing their roles is responsible for the abuse of
power and frequently observed behaviors of
stereotypes and racist beliefs among law enforcement
officers. Hence, as public servants, the police should
continually strive to rise above personal prejudices and
promote community harmony. The high education
requirements may expose law enforcers to different
perspectives and equip them with skills to serve
everyone equitably regardless of age, gender, sexual
orientation, and race. Therefore, they may renounce
practices that portray the profession negatively.
Higher Learning Can Assist Law Enforcement
Agencies to Adopt Best Practices
Knowledge and expertise accumulated in college may
be essential in helping the police become more
efficient in identifying quality data and scientific
evidence. In this context, post-secondary education can
provide the crime squad with the tools to think
scientifically. The basic principle of scientific thinking
is to present learners with the necessary tools to
distinguish credible information from unreliable data
(Schmaltz et al., 2017).
In this regard, research shows that instructors in the
tertiary education program tend to prioritize scientific
thinking (Schmaltz et al., 2017). This means that many
police recruits who do not continue to a post-secondary
level after finishing high school may not acquire this
essential skill to accurately assess the world around
them. Therefore, if college education is not mandatory
for the police, they may not develop the specific skill
sets needed to be scientifically literate and, thus,
become vulnerable to biases and logical fallacies.
For instance, law enforcers usually learn de-escalation
strategies in their academies to reduce the use of force.
However, while de-escalation techniques are essential
tools at their disposal, they may not always be effective
or applicable. Therefore, officers who understand
scientific methods, as taught in college, are better
equipped to evaluate such department policies’ and
adjust them.
College-educated officers are also better imparted with
various capabilities to look more professional to the
public. Apart from post-secondary education assisting
law enforcement officers in displaying clarity in
thinking, they can also be well trained and well versed
to easily use emerging artificial intelligence
technologies to solve crimes.
In addition, they may have a broader grasp of the
criminal justice system and robust knowledge of civil
rights from multiple perspectives. Therefore, tertiary
education can build police officers’ overall
competencies and prepare them to be more suitable for
the job. This is because, in college, learners have
access to nearly limitless information, which helps
them to accumulate knowledge and learn best practices
to build the reputation of any profession.
In this case, when police officers are highly educated,
they can be more disciplined and act more
professionally compared to those who are uneducated.
Based on a report, only 11% of college-educated police
officers were involved in all disciplinary actions
compared to 75% of law enforcement agents with high
school diplomas (Kimberling, 2020). Therefore, a four-
year tertiary education correlates with positive attitudes
and good behavior, which enhances the success of
police recruits.
College education training helps enhance police
legitimacy through improvements in public confidence
in the law enforcement department. Post-secondary
education is, for example, anticipated to boost police
ethical awareness and occupational culture to assist
them in adapting to changes in society and in
improving their professional status (Terpstra & Schaap,
2021). Therefore, as mentioned earlier, making higher
education a requirement for police will give them
unlimited opportunities to learn various topics, such as
theories of community, diversity, and the complexities
of crime causation.
As a result, this will enhance the legitimacy of the
profession through the accreditation of police
education and training. In this case, the public will be
able to have trust and confidence in their law
enforcement departments. Such assurances involve the
belief that the police are more professional, competent,
and honest and try to perform their job effectively by
protecting the community against violence and crime.
Thus, higher education for police recruits, especially a
bachelor’s degree, is considered significant to counter
a wide range of major shortcomings of law
enforcement.
College-Educated Police Are More Likely to
Prevent Violence and Crime
Law enforcement officers with college degrees are less
likely to engage in professional misconduct. Police
personnel with lower education qualifications are more
likely to use excessive and deadly force than officers
with post-secondary education. A report shows that
college-educated law enforcement officers are 40%
less likely to resort to lethal force on the job (Mekouar,
2020). Therefore, this means the group has a minimal
chance of losing their jobs due to misconduct.
Police violence against civilians includes firing or
pointing a gun at suspects, using verbal threats and
indiscriminately punching or grabbing suspects, or
hitting individuals in their custody with a baton to
cause physical harm. Therefore, tertiary education
helps law enforcement agencies find and learn about
effective strategies and implement them when
confronted with difficult situations, especially during
the upsurge of racially charged incidents.
Various reports of extrajudicial killings, such as the
brutal murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, have triggered tension and distrust between
communities and law enforcement forces. Thus, the
assumption behind why police personnel with no post-
secondary education may be more likely to use
violence is that those with college degrees are better
problem solvers. This implies that college-educated
law enforcers are able to mitigate incidents with
suspects amicably without resorting to physical force.
Higher education improves cognitive skills and reduces
an individual’s likelihood of engaging in risky
behaviors, which may decrease their chances of being
violent. A study by Varela et al. (2018) indicates that
school disengagement is closely linked with higher
levels of violent conduct during adolescence and early
adulthood.
Another report shows that law enforcement personnel
with at least a two-year degree are 40% less likely to
be dismissed from their work due to professional
misconduct (Bouffard & Armstrong, 2020). This
means officers with college degrees generate fewer
complaints from their departments and the public.
Therefore, they are also terminated less frequently
compared to their less educated counterparts for
misbehavior. College-educated officers are more
understanding of human behavior, are less
authoritarian, and have better job performance.
Post-secondary Education Instill Police with
Essential Skills and Leadership Competencies
Post-secondary education is vital in assisting the police
to stay updated with the ever-changing needs of
society. Boag-Munroe et al. (2017) recommend the
acquisition of problem-oriented strategies as a means
to enhance law enforcement capabilities to effectively
execute their mandate.
The traditional technical training programs may be
outdated and insufficient in preparing officers to
respond to emerging social problems, such as
international terrorism and increased migration, as well
as understand new policing laws required to effectively
address these issues. In this regard, college is the only
setting where learning and broadening knowledge
occurs. This is because recruits will be inducted into
different topics, ideas, and situations over a duration of
time to become more problem-oriented in identifying
crimes in the communities they serve.
If a degree becomes mandatory for law enforcement,
officers can easily determine the underlying causes of
insecurity, develop suitable responses, and assess
whether those responses work. In this case, they will
have the opportunity to pursue educational
backgrounds in sociology, public management,
communications, psychology, government, and the
natural sciences to develop new perspectives.
The accumulation of knowledge may help build
effective leaders within law enforcement. This is
because police academies’ inadequate focus on core
competencies related to leadership, such as
management and communication, are typically covered
in colleges. Thus, these skills may initiate meaningful
departmental reforms needed for transformational
leadership.
Effective governance is one of the most critical
predictors of whether an institution can effectively
function in a dynamic social and political environment.
Therefore, police should be encouraged to make a
college degree an employment requirement because
they will better understand various aspects of society.
For example, higher education can strengthen police
officers’ leadership potential and promote them
through the ranks.
Research shows that law enforcement personnel with at
least some higher education background are more
focused on promotional advancement and aspire to
retire in senior positions than those with no college
degrees (Rosenfeld et al., 2020). Conversely, police
who experience limited promotion prospects have a
high chance of leaving the service (Boag-Munroe et
al., 2017). In this case, it is not unexpected that
administrators in law enforcement, including police
chiefs, are likely to hold post-graduate and college
degrees.
Higher Education Improves the Communication
Prowess of Police Recruits
Unlike high school graduates, law enforcement
personnel with a college degree often exhibit better
verbal and written communication skills. Good verbal
communication positively influences how police
officers interact with their partners, other professionals,
community members, victims, families, and court
officials. Research indicates that college-educated law
enforcers have impeccable listening and speaking
skills, which helps them to easily build trust with
people from diverse backgrounds to understand
different situations (Edwards, 2019). This may assist
the police in making fast and more informed decisions
for the betterment of all individuals and communities
involved.
Additionally, improved communication skills help law
enforcement forces to effectively gather evidence from
crime scenes or during interrogations. For instance, an
officer’s tone and body language may encourage or
deter witnesses from divulging the account of events
that may hasten or impede an investigation. Therefore,
a college education helps police recruits acquire
excellent communication abilities that foster better
relations with the public resulting in information
sharing, which makes inquiries easier and faster.
Good communication in law enforcement often assists
in de-escalating volatile situations. Law enforcement
agents with a college education have been linked to
adopting less authoritative tones when interacting with
the public than their counterparts. Speaking calmly in
cases involving rowdy groups, protests, or other tense
conditions can help the police diffuse such scenarios
amicably.
The use of practices, such as active listening and
showing empathy, may create an atmosphere of mutual
respect, which is critical in conflict management to
avert further escalations. Thus, effective
communication skills taught in colleges may help law
enforcers learn to use conflict management strategies
in solving issues rather than violence.
College-educated law enforcers demonstrate a better-
written communication compared to high-school
graduates. The use of simple, clear, and precise
language in writing police memos and reports fosters
information clarity to prevent misunderstandings
(Edwards, 2019).
Law enforcement agencies heavily rely on written
documents; thus, well-written reports clearly show how
events surrounding a particular case unfolded.
Alternatively, poor reporting and documentation may
cause misunderstanding and biases, impeding an
investigation. Poor report-writing skills may make an
officer lose their job. Therefore, a college degree may
equip police recruits with the writing skills needed in
the field.
Higher education equips law enforcement personnel
with a unique skill set to interpret body language.
Communication is not limited to verbal or written form
because non-verbal cues, including facial expressions,
tone, gestures, and body language, can generate
different messages.
Comprehending non-verbal communication may assist
law enforcers in analyzing the body language of
suspects or witnesses to detect any anomalies in their
statements. Similarly, these cues can help officers read
their partner’s body language or signals when they
cannot communicate verbally in field exercises. Thus,
tertiary education can expose police recruits to non-
verbal communication that can aid investigations.
College Education May Improve a Recruit’s
Chances for Promotion
Tertiary education can significantly boost a law
enforcer’s chances of getting a promotion. Since
college-educated officers have technological expertise,
better leadership, communication, and problem-solving
skills, and are more disciplined than high school
graduates, they can quickly rise through the ranks and
occupy bigger positions in the force (Dowd, 2021).
In addition, recruits with higher education may earn
better salaries than their peers with high school
diplomas (Dowd, 2021). Moreover, recruits with a
college education have better job security due to their
diverse skills, which are critical in law enforcement
owing to the low turnover rate associated with the
profession. The increased promotion opportunities,
salaries, and job security may give college-educated
officers increased job satisfaction compared to those
with high school diplomas.
As a result, the officers with tertiary education may
have a positive attitude towards their work, including
the communities they serve. Research indicates that
individuals who are happy with their jobs have
increased job performance (Kundi et al., 2020).
Therefore, recruiting individuals with higher education
can significantly assist law enforcement in achieving
equity because they will serve the public diligently
despite their race, religion, or age.
Arguments Against Mandatory College Education
for Police Recruits
Requiring law enforcers to have post-secondary
education is a good idea. Nevertheless, incorporating
college education as a pre-employment qualification
for recruits may have unintended consequences which
are detrimental to police agencies. This may explain
why law enforcement agencies are yet to implement
the mandatory college degree as a qualification despite
the public uproar. The drawbacks to mandating higher
education for police recruits include the following;
College Education May Create a Workforce
Shortage
Making college education compulsory for police
recruits may cause a significant decline in the
workforce. This is because it will limit the number of
applicants joining the force, thus creating an imbalance
between work responsibilities and available resources.
Similarly, over the years, the number of applicants
entering the police force has significantly dwindled,
leaving the agencies with many vacancies.
Not to mention, there are four generations in law
enforcement, including the Millenials, veterans,
Generation X and Baby Boomers. Some veterans,
particularly the Baby Boomers, are nearing retirement,
creating other vacancies (Fry, 2020). This implies that
blocking high school graduates from joining law
enforcement will further deteriorate the vacancy crises.
There have been increased reports of several officers
quitting the force. For instance, the Police Executive
Research Forum report indicates that from 2020 to
2021, officers’ resignations and retirement increased
by 18% and 45%, respectively (Sutton, 2021). This
was partly attributed to low pay, high-stress levels, and
the public’s negative attitudes toward the police.
Therefore, it is evident that the police force is already
facing a workforce shortage crisis. Hence, mandating
college education among the applicants may impair the
agency’s operations due to the lack of an adequate
workforce.
Many college graduates may prefer other careers over
joining law enforcement. Only a small population of
the country has four-year college degrees. In this case,
in 2021, only 37.9% of individuals aged 25 years and
above in the United States had a college degree
(Schaeffer, 2022). Nevertheless, not many of them
would choose to enter the police force. Most applicants
seek to join law enforcement due to the altruistic need
to serve their communities.
Therefore, making college education a mandatory
requirement for police recruits will significantly lower
the number of applicants, resulting in a decreased
workforce, thus adversely affecting the agencies’
operations. Consequently, the limited personnel may
hinder the equality of police service due to the limited
number of resources in the form of officers.
Mandating College Degrees for Recruits May
Disadvantage Minority Groups
Making college education a requisite for joining law
enforcement may limit the chances of including
marginalized groups. There is already an
overwhelming underrepresentation of minority ethnic
communities in law enforcement (Casey-Maslen &
Connolly, 2017). Hence, necessitating a college degree
as a pre-employment qualification for recruits may
further hinder these marginalized groups from joining
the force. T
he requirement may create unequal opportunities for
minority groups such as Hispanics and African
Americans. This is because most people of color come
from low-socioeconomic backgrounds and may not
afford the finances to pay for a college education. For
instance, in 2022, 59.1% of college graduates were
White, while Latinos and African-Americans were
13.1% and 1%, respectively (Bouchrika, 2022). This
proves that making post-secondary education
compulsory in the police force may create inequitable
chances for people of color.
As a result, this will not only hinder diversity in the
workforce but also cause a considerable decline in the
number of officers, thus adversely affecting police
operations. A lack of diverse law enforcement force
may adversely impact service delivery because the
officers may not adequately cater to the needs of the
multi-ethnic populations.
Requiring police recruits to have higher education may
significantly lower the number of women joining the
force. Research indicates that only 12% of women are
law enforcers (Corley, 2022). This implies that the
number of women officers is too low and should be
increased. Thus, mandating college education for
police recruits will only place more barriers for women
to enter the force.
As a result, this will hinder diversity and gender
inclusivity, which may impair some law enforcement
operations. For instance, female victims or witnesses
are more likely to cooperate and effectively
communicate with female officers because they can
relate to them. Therefore, requiring police officers to
have tertiary education lessens the number of law
enforcement women, hampering service delivery to the
public.
College Degrees May Be Unnecessary in the Police
Force
Mandating tertiary education among law enforcers may
be unwarranted because the police academy offers
preparatory and on-job-training programs to its
workforce. Police training mainly revolves around
safety, psychology issues, and legal procedures; it may
last for six to eight months (Blumberg et al., 2019). In
this case, the recruits are taught state laws, self-
defense, criminal investigations, computer skills, patrol
procedures, and first aid.
Other topics include weapon training, defensive
driving, and traffic control. The recruits must also
perform physical exercise and fieldwork to
demonstrate their understanding of classroom activities
(Blumberg et al., 2019). The field practices may
include using firearms, directing traffic, operating
police vehicles, demonstrating arrest tactics and
interrogation methods, and investigating mock crime
scenes.
Recruit training incorporates ethical practices in law
enforcement and the communication skills required in
interactions with other officers and the public. For
instance, the officers are trained to use de-escalation
techniques, such as showing empathy when dealing
with volatile situations. Additionally, police recruits
are taught how and when to use force to minimize
damage and guarantee public safety (Blumberg et al.,
2019).
Equally important, law enforcers can learn on the job
through experience, making tertiary education
unnecessary. This proves that police recruits already
have adequate knowledge and skills to effectively
perform their jobs; thus, there is no need to mandate a
college degree.
Even before an individual is considered a recruit, they
must undergo rigorous tests to qualify for the positions.
In this case, the applicant has to perform a written test
to demonstrate that they have basic knowledge critical
for the profession. The exam covers problem-solving
skills, mathematics, and grammar, amongst others.
Additionally, applicants must pass a psychological test
to portray their emotional preparedness for the job
(Blumberg et al., 2019). This is because law enforcers
are often exposed to highly challenging scenarios that
necessitate making life-and-death choices.
Furthermore, a physical ability exam is done to
evaluate whether the applicant’s physical strength fits
the job demand. Therefore, passing the police tests
already qualifies the applicants for the profession.
Hence, law enforcers do not require higher education
to perform their work better because they have already
demonstrated their aptitude by passing the applicant’s
test.
Higher Education May Be Costly for Law
Enforcement Agencies
Tertiary education may increase the salary expectations
for police recruits. In any profession, individuals with
advanced education status require higher pay than
those with low education levels. This implies that
police recruits with a college degree may be reluctant
to accept the starting salary offered by law enforcement
agencies. In this case, since most college graduates
often have pending educational loans, officers with
college degrees may require a higher income to enable
them to pay such loans and manage their expenses
(Dowd, 2021). Therefore, it is evident that obliging law
enforcers to have higher education may result in higher
salaries for the agencies.
It may be expensive for law enforcement departments
to hire recruits with tertiary education. This is because
the departments deal with a limited budget, and hence
it may be challenging to sustain the increased salaries
required by college-level recruits (Cole et al., 2018).
As a result, the police agencies may only be able to
recruit a slightly lower number of applicants resulting
in more workload due to the limited staff. The decline
may hinder equality because there are no adequate
resources to meet the existing work requirements.
This proves that necessitating college education for
police recruits can be costly for police departments.
Instead, the best solution would be hiring high school
graduates and providing subsidies and other incentives
to encourage them to pursue tertiary education. This
approach may promote higher learning among police
officers, equipping them with the necessary skills and
knowledge to meet society’s constantly evolving
needs.
Position
Although some critics might argue that the lack of
higher education for police recruits may not translate
into their inability to perform their work, garnering a
broad perspective on various issues is vital for any
profession. Since more people are becoming very
intellectual, education qualifications for the police
force should also be improved. According to a report,
in 2021, the number of adults 25 years and older who
had completed college education or more included
46.9% men and 53.1% women (United States Census
Bureau, 2022). Therefore, law enforcement operating
in a well-educated society should be taught to match
the people they serve.
Education can help the police understand the
individuals they serve and strengthen police-
community relations. This is because it has been
articulated that college-educated police employ less
force and adhere to policing regulations for
professional advancement than high school graduates.
Critical thinking is one aspect associated with higher
education, which allows law enforcement personnel to
better understand their suspects during a confrontation
and articulate practical solutions not available to their
non-college-educated peers. Thus, post-secondary
education for police is essential in countering a wide
range of shortcomings in law enforcement.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there have been repeated calls from the
public requiring police recruits to have tertiary learning
to meet the evolving society’s needs. College
education may improve a police recruit’s problem-
solving skills, technological abilities, leadership, and
communication skills. All these proficiencies make
police officers better equipped to serve the needs of
society.
In addition, due to the exposure to different cultures
during college, these officers have an increased
understanding of diversity, enhancing their relations
with colleagues, superiors, and the public regardless of
age, race, or religion. Similarly, higher education has a
positive influence on law enforcers because officers
with a college education are more disciplined and less
likely to use violence when interacting with the public.
However, some critics maintain that mandating tertiary
education for recruits may be detrimental to law
enforcement agencies. This is because it may result in
a declining workforce and increase operations costs
due to additional salaries. Additionally, it may limit
minority groups’ applications to the force, thus
hindering diversity. Nevertheless, college degrees
should be mandated for police recruits because they
offer the required skill set and abilities to solve societal
problems effectively.
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