How To Become A Campus Security Officer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a campus security officer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Jill Myers

The role of a Campus Security Officer is to ensure and maintain a safe and secure environment at universities, colleges, and other educational institutions, through patrols, inspections, and investigations. They are expected to report on any seemingly nefarious or otherwise suspicious activities, investigate disturbances, enforce regulations, and generally monitor and patrol, whether by foot, by car, or via a security system, the campus with the intention of maintaining law and order. Some Campus Security Officers may have to deal with parking and traffic or may need to transport students and staff across campuses or to and from other places.

In emergency situations, they are the ones who need to make sure that procedures are followed, emergency personnel is called, and to provide first aid to those injured in any way.

Campus Security Officers need to have a high school diploma or a GED and, usually, a valid driver's license. Many must have previous security experience and a clean criminal record, and some, though this is usually an unarmed position, may need to have state certification for the use of firearms before they can be hired. Most Campus Security Officers earn almost $15 an hour, or over $30,000 a year.

What general advice would you give to a campus security officer?

Jill Myers

Director of the School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration

The more skill sets you have the better prepared you will be for future advancement and salary increases. Having a solid education, a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice and a masters degree will sometimes result in increased wages. Having federal certifications and competencies will enhance your opportunities and create potential marketability for your career. It is always a great skill set to have people skills, communication in both written and oral formats. It will enhance your ability to explain yourself in court, in the warrants one prepares, and with dealing with the public in all circumstances from victims and witnesses and suspects, to legislators, the funding sources like mayors and city council and the public at large.

ScoreCampus Security OfficerUS Average

Salary

2.7

Avg. Salary $34,425

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.6

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.58%

Asian 6.25%

Black or African American 11.98%

Hispanic or Latino 20.91%

Unknown 5.30%

White 53.98%

Gender

female 24.62%

male 75.38%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

8.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.9

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

9.4

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a campus security officer

Explore campus security officer education requirements

Most common campus security officer degrees

Bachelor's

44.4 %

Associate

24.6 %

High School Diploma

18.6 %

Start to develop specific campus security officer skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	30.59%
Patrol	12.50%
Security Services	8.20%
Public Safety	7.47%
CPR	6.98%

Complete relevant campus security officer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New campus security officers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a campus security officer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real campus security officer resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed campus security officer usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you don't need to pass an exam to become a licensed campus security officer in most of states. 30 states require campus security officers to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	-	-	Licensed Personal Security Officer
Maryland	-	-	GUARDS
Alaska	Specific course required	-	Security Guard
Arkansas	Specific course required	State exam required	Private Security Officer (PSO)
California	Specific course required	State exam required	Security Guard Registration

Research campus security officer duties and responsibilities

Monitor building access- utilizing CCTV security systems.
Assist in medical calls, to include minor first aid and CPR.
Maintain alertness for problems likely to disrupt the educational process or to be injurious to persons or property.
Patrol assign campus areas to prevent disruptive behavior and vandalism.

Prepare your campus security officer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your campus security officer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a campus security officer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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