Connecting You With Hundreds of Online Courses and Online Degree Programs
Online-Education.net Home > Career Training > What To Do Now? > Border Patrol

What To Do Now? Border Patrol Career Training

by Karen Jo Shapiro
Online Education Columnist

Border patrol is an area of law enforcement that deals with monitoring America's borders. If you have always enjoyed a sense of adventure and like upholding policy, you could improve your skills by retraining as a border patrol officer. In this position, you would be helping to guard against drug smuggling and terrorism, as well as monitoring illegal immigration. Online border patrol training courses combined with hands-on experience can help you enter this rigorous and challenging field.

Exploring the Career Skills of Border Patrol: Retrain for Your New Career

Border patrol officers are the front-line people who make sure that our country is safe from terrorism and drug bands, while also upholding immigration laws. Additionally, these officers provide safety for those who are legally entering at the border points. A strained economy may increase difficulties at our borders as people everywhere feel the pressure to survive financially. Border patrol officers respond to current conditions and understand when illegal activities might be on the rise.

To do well in this specialized area of law enforcement, you must be physically fit, tough-minded, and not easily intimidated. You will need to understand the legal system and care about enforcing policy. Other career skills you'll need include the ability to communicate clearly and work well as part of a team. This occupation can be dangerous and stressful, so an ability to stay calm in crisis situations is an important career skill as well.

Career Advice for Border Patrol: Entry Points

To begin as a border patrol officer you must first be in law enforcement. While backgrounds for law enforcement can range from high school degrees to a four-year education, there are also many different tests (including physical) that an officer will have to take in order to qualify. Online border patrol training courses can be quite useful as you retrain, giving you specialized information to improve your skills for this particular field.

More about Border Patrol Career Training & Border Patrol Schools Online


University of Phoenix

  • B.S. in Health Administration - Emergency Management
  • B.S. in Organizational Security and Management
  • More Information
  • Everest University Online

  • Homeland Security (Bachelor's)
  • Homeland Security (Associate's)
  • More Information
  • Keiser University

  • Homeland Security, AA (Online)
  • Homeland Security, BA (Online)
  • More Information
  • View all online Border Patrol schools >>
    Karen Jo Shapiro is a psychologist who specializes in leadership and career development in addition to personal coaching. She is the owner of Your Next Steps Coaching and is on adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, NC. She leads workshops for women on achieving their dreams through action planning, and also on powerful connections through networking. Karen Jo has undergraduate degrees in English and Spanish from Colby College and a Psy.D. from the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. She has published two books of humorous poetry for children.