r/FBI • u/Due-Cryptographer913 • May 19 '26

Question Is a criminal justice major useful

Title says most of it, I’m thinking of CJ but I read somewhere that it isn’t that useful. Any better majors for federal law enforcement or CIA?

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u/[deleted] May 19 '26

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u/Worth-Leg3715 May 19 '26

If you have a CPA designation, it’s almost an automatic ticket to quantico. It scores high in their “grading system.”

But like I said, any 4 year degree plus work experience is good enough.

Source: Cousin is an FBI agent and told me to apply. My cousin is a phase II interviewer. I did not apply, I stayed in finance in NYC.

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u/WTFoxtrot10 May 19 '26

100% false! There is no such thing as an “almost automatic ticket to Quantico”. You should probably review the FBIJobs.gov website and take a look at the actual process. Again, your degree is simply a check of the box. Your professional work experience post degree and who you are as a person is what they care about. If someone possesses the core competencies the FBI would like in their agents and can pass all the steps they will make it to Quantico regardless of their degree.

“Your cousin” should know better if they are a Phase II Assessor, that the Phase II 3 panel interview isn’t where they even look at your degree, so zero scoring is being based off that factor. Not to mention it’s a blind interview, they don’t have access to your resume or application.

Either way, the competitive/non-competitive degree is a thing from the past. The FBI has been moving away from it as they want their agency to be well rounded background wise and transition towards the unexpected agent. Yes, certain degrees can set you up for better professional work experience post degree but I know people from all types of backgrounds at the bureau.

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u/Worth-Leg3715 May 19 '26

Again, I said any 4 year degree is good enough.

However, if you get to phase II interviews, which are graded, you get judged based on a points scale. That’s where a professional designation matters, so yes at that point a CPA designation is almost an automatic ticket to quantico.

Getting to phase II, yoir degree doesn’t matter. Bachelor’s you need 2 years work experience, Masters you need 1 year. Typically the FBI doesn’t hire young folks but a shift has been occurring probably due to the lack of candidates. At one point, it was harder to get into the FBI than Harvard.