Post job

Surveillance director education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a surveillance director. Surveillance directors usually study criminal justice, business, or hospitality management. 57% of surveillance directors hold a bachelor's degree, and 20% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 208 real surveillance director resumes to see exactly what surveillance director education sections show.

The most common colleges for surveillance directors are the University of Nevada - Las Vegas and the University of Nevada - Las Vegas.

There are also many online surveillance director courses to help get the education required to be a surveillance director.

What education do you need to become a surveillance director?

What degree do you need to be a surveillance director?

The most common degree for surveillance directors is bachelor's degree, with 57% of surveillance directors earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 20% and associate degree degree at 12%.
  • Bachelor's, 57%
  • Associate, 20%
  • Master's, 12%
  • High School Diploma, 6%
  • Other Degrees, 5%

What should I major in to become a surveillance director?

You should major in criminal justice to become a surveillance director. 18% of surveillance directors major in criminal justice. Other common majors for a surveillance director include business and hospitality management.

Most common colleges for surveillance directors

Surveillance directors often get their degrees at University of Nevada - Las Vegas, Southern New Hampshire University, and New York University. Here are the most common colleges for surveillance directors in the US based on their resumes.
Surveillance director common collegePercentages
University of Nevada - Las Vegas13.33%
Southern New Hampshire University10.00%
New York University6.67%
Troy University6.67%
University of Southern Mississippi6.67%

Best majors for surveillance directors

RankMajorPercentages
1Criminal Justice18.2%
2Business13.6%
3Hospitality Management8.0%
4Finance5.7%
5Management5.7%

Best colleges for surveillance directors

The best colleges for surveillance directors are University of Tulsa, Syracuse University, and SUNY at Binghamton.

A surveillance director with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for surveillance directors. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become surveillance directors.

1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

2. University of Chicago

Chicago, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$58,230

Enrollment

6,600

3. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

4. University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX • Private

In-state tuition

$10,610

Enrollment

40,329

5. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Enrollment

31,503

6. USF Sarasota-Manatee

Sarasota, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,587

Enrollment

1,834

7. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,522

Enrollment

13,760

8. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

9. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

10. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,656

Enrollment

32,072

20 best online courses for surveillance directors

Advertising disclosure

1. Global Health Policy

coursera

In this course, learners will become familiar with principles and theories of global health problems, and major challenges and controversies in improving global population health as well as practical applications of quantitative methods to analyze and interpret issues and challenges for policy. Topics will include health and foreign policy, health governance, acute disease surveillance, non-communicable diseases, burden of disease, universal health coverage, health systems strengthening, health...

2. Hot Topics in Criminal Justice

coursera

The American criminal justice system is in need of reform. We incarcerate too many people. We pay insufficient attention to scientific advances that can help separate out the most and least culpable and dangerous. We grant the police far too much power to use force and technological surveillance. As a way of thinking about dealing with these problems, this course examines two over-arching issues: What should we do with people who have committed crime, and how should we identify who they are? On...

3. Compliance Training for Employees

udemy
4.6
(5,050)

Compliance: a simple, comprehensive and effective way to protect your company!...

4. Operational Risks Management ORM

udemy
4.3
(1,174)

Operational Risks Management ORM Case Studies for Risk Management, Compliance, Audit, IS Security, Banking Professionals...

5. Investigating Epidemics like COVID-19: An Analyst's Guide

coursera

Do you want to learn how to detect, identify the cause, and decrease the morbidity and mortality from outbreaks or pandemics like COVID-19? Are you considering a career in public health practice, but aren’t sure how health departments collect and use outbreak data? Are you working in public health, but interested in moving into analytical and/or technical roles or curious how health departments investigate outbreaks? If so, this course is for you. After taking this course you be able to define...

6. Cybersecurity Management and Compliance

coursera

In this course, you’ll learn about data and record management, Information security, standards and policy formation, and implementation. You’ll also explore cloud adoption frameworks and regulatory compliance frameworks. This course will take you one step closer to the Microsoft Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate, which requires no degree or prior experience. After completing this course, you'll be able to: • Explain the principles of cloud security planning • Identify security...

7. Introduction to Compliance Risk Management CRM

udemy
4.1
(300)

Compliance risk management CRM for Compliance, Risk Management, Internal Audit and IS Security Professionals...

8. Build Powerful Compliance Programs & Prevent Corporate Fraud

udemy
4.4
(289)

Learn everything you need to know to build an effective and powerful compliance culture and prevent corporate fraud...

9. What is Corruption: Anti-Corruption and Compliance

coursera

Have you ever paid someone for doing you a favor? You may be accustomed to tipping wait staff or other service providers, but what if you paid a police officer for NOT issuing a parking ticket? Or if you gave a “gift” to a government official for signing a contract with your company? Tipping might be okay, but paying a bribe is a violation of the law. Bribery is widespread and exists almost everywhere and in many forms. Compliance programs address this and other forms of corruption. In this...

10. Medical Device Regulation 2017/745 EU regulatory affairs.

udemy
4.3
(764)

Understand regulations for medical devices in simple terms to gain market approval of a medical device in the EU...

11. 2017 Great Decisions: Foreign Policy Association

udemy
4.5
(417)

Learn about leading foreign policy challenges confronting U.S. policy makers and the American public...

12. Master Public Policy Analysis In Six Easy Steps: The Basics

udemy
4.3
(545)

An Introduction to Policy Analysis Concepts and Practice For The Real World!...

13. HR 101: Compliance Made Easy - U.S. Employers Must Have

udemy
4.6
(1,606)

Streamline the most critical human resource (HR) processes and be in compliance with U.S. employment regulations...

14. Bank Reconciliations & Cash Internal Controls

udemy
4.5
(645)

Mastering Internal Controls and Cash Management: Safeguarding Business Assets and Ensuring Financial Accuracy...

15. Hotel Front Desk

udemy
4.4
(342)

Hotel Front Office Management and Operations...

16. AML Compliance in Practice: Suspicious Activity Reports

udemy
4.6
(525)

Learn the Fundamentals of SAR Filing in Anti-Money Laundering Compliance/KYC & How to write a stellar SAR Narrative!...

17. Internal Audit: a Guide for Management

udemy
4.5
(1,333)

Internal Audit, Risk Management, Compliance, Governance, Internal Controls, CIA, Audit Report, Audit Charter, IIA...

18. Proper Segregation of Duties for Internal Control

udemy
4.5
(480)

This course examines and discusses key roles and tasks that should be evaluated for proper segregation of duties...

19. HIPAA Compliance Complete Course

udemy
4.4
(3,483)

Protecting Patients and Practices...

20. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Compliance

udemy
4.2
(266)

This course offers guidelines to recognizing, understanding and dealing with bribery, corruption and compliance...

Top 10 most affordable universities for surveillance directors

The most affordable schools for surveillance directors are SUNY Farmingdale, brigham young university, and usf sarasota-manatee.

If the best universities for surveillance directors are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for surveillance directors.

1. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

2. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

3. USF Sarasota-Manatee

Sarasota, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,587

Cost of attendance

13,043

4. Clayton State University

Morrow, GA • Private

In-state tuition

$5,419

Cost of attendance

17,697

5. John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,270

Cost of attendance

14,177

6. Minot State University

Minot, ND • Private

In-state tuition

$7,064

Cost of attendance

15,576

7. Florida International University

Miami, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,556

Cost of attendance

19,434

8. Southern University at New Orleans

New Orleans, LA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,033

Cost of attendance

12,702

9. SUNY Polytechnic Institute

Utica, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,238

Cost of attendance

21,567

10. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,656

Cost of attendance

21,623

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for surveillance directors

The hardest universities for surveillance directors to get into are University of Tulsa, Syracuse University, and SUNY at Binghamton.

Some great schools for surveillance directors are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for surveillance directors based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. University of Tulsa

Tulsa, OK • Private

Admissions rate

41%

SAT average

1,321

2. Syracuse University

Syracuse, NY • Private

Admissions rate

50%

SAT average

1,284

3. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

Admissions rate

40%

SAT average

1,376

4. Saint Louis University

Saint Louis, MO • Private

Admissions rate

58%

SAT average

1,304

5. University of Denver

Denver, CO • Private

Admissions rate

56%

SAT average

1,300

6. University of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

Admissions rate

59%

SAT average

1,367

7. American University

Washington, DC • Private

Admissions rate

32%

SAT average

1,320

8. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

9. Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA • Private

Admissions rate

28%

SAT average

1,429

10. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

19%

SAT average

1,466

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for surveillance directors

The easiest schools for surveillance directors to get into are Nyack College, university of north texas at dallas, and la roche college.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a surveillance director without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for surveillance directors.

1. Nyack College

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

999

2. University of North Texas at Dallas

Dallas, TX • Private

Admissions rate

83%

SAT average

992

3. La Roche College

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

Admissions rate

99%

SAT average

1,008

4. Saint Joseph's College of Maine

Standish, ME • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,069

5. Gwynedd Mercy University

Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private

Admissions rate

92%

SAT average

1,031

6. Saint Martin's University

Lacey, WA • Private

Admissions rate

96%

SAT average

1,111

7. Albertus Magnus College

New Haven, CT • Private

Admissions rate

58%

SAT average

931

8. Kean University

Union, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

86%

SAT average

991

9. Wayland Baptist University

Plainview, TX • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

1,003

10. Notre Dame College

Cleveland, OH • Private

Admissions rate

90%

SAT average

994

Average surveillance director salary by education level

Surveillance directors with a Doctorate degree earn more than those without, at $121,414 annually. With a Master's degree, surveillance directors earn a median annual income of $115,431 compared to $103,874 for surveillance directors with an Bachelor's degree.
Surveillance director education levelSurveillance director salary
Master's Degree$115,431
High School Diploma or Less$83,315
Bachelor's Degree$103,874
Doctorate Degree$121,414
Some College/ Associate Degree$87,239

Surveillance director education FAQs

Search for surveillance director jobs

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Browse executive management jobs