Quick answer: 5 colleges within 100 miles of Columbus, Mississippi award a police and public safety administration degree, the nearest about 53 miles away (IPEDS Completions, 2024).
Compare police and public safety administration programs you can start from Columbus:
| Distance from Columbus | Colleges awarding this degree |
|---|---|
| Within 25 miles | 0 |
| Within 50 miles | 0 |
| Within 100 miles | 5 |
| Within 250 miles | 43 |
Source: IPEDS Completions, 2024, counting institutions that reported awarding this degree, joined to IPEDS institution coordinates. Distances are straight-line.
Access around Columbus is thinner than in the larger Mississippi metros. The nearest college awarding this degree is roughly 53 miles away and 5 sit within 100 miles, which is the case where an online or low-residency program earns its keep.
The subject matter does not change by location: police organization and administration, public budgeting, personnel and labor relations, policy and civil liability, and community relations. What changes is how you take it. Ask each college whether the program holds accreditation from a recognized institutional accreditor, how much of the coursework is delivered online, and which components require you on campus. Credit transfer is decided by the receiving institution and genuinely varies, so request a written transfer evaluation before you enroll.
This page lists 6 schools within 138 miles, closest group first, then ordered by BOC Score with the highest at the top. 6 of them carry a score.
Scores come from IPEDS (2024) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Earnings are for all graduates of a school, not one program, so treat them as a signal about the institution rather than about this subject. Sponsored listings are paid placements and are labelled as such; they are separate from this ranking and never change it. Read the full methodology.
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives in Mississippi earn a median $59,860 per year against $106,040 nationally (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
The Mississippi median for first-line supervisors of police and detectives is $59,860 per year, below the national median of $106,040, on state employment of 2,060 (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
These are statewide figures. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish wages at city level, so no page can tell you what this job pays in Columbus specifically. For the metro-level picture where it is published, and the full percentile spread, see the Mississippi page.
About this guide: Researched and written by the TradeCareerPath Editorial Team. Our editorial team researches and sources every trade school and career guide using federal labor and education data, including BLS OEWS and Employment Projections, DOL apprenticeship records, IPEDS, College Scorecard, and state licensing boards. We follow the editorial standards documented at /editorial-policy/.
