The higher education landscape in Tamaulipas has a new protagonist: security sciences. With a record growth of 340%, the University of Security and Justice (USJT) is attracting the attention of professionals. In the last academic year, enrollment in postgraduate programs jumped from 52 to 229 students.
Growing Interest in Postgraduate Studies in Security in Tamaulipas
Willy Zúñiga Castillo, executive secretary of the State Public Security System (Sesesp), told MILENIO Tamaulipas that interest in professional specialization in security and justice fields is growing, with enrollment quadrupling from 2025 to 2026.
He indicated that the USJT trains and provides continuing education for police officers and public prosecutors, who will receive job opportunities in the State Public Security Secretariat and the Attorney General’s Office. Sixty percent of the student body is female.
Flor performed voluntary military service and thus broke stereotypes
Undergraduate enrollment decreases, but master’s programs grow
According to their statistics, although undergraduate enrollment decreased from 848 to 699 students during the same period (a 17.5% reduction), master’s programs show greater growth and relevance, he estimates.
The official specified that 95% of these students are from Tamaulipas and that the most requested major is criminology, the discipline that studies crime, its causes, and ways to prevent it.
The university offers four undergraduate degrees: public safety, criminology, police science, and law. It also offers two master’s degrees: public policy development in security and criminology and criminal justice.
Between October 2022 and March 2026, 10,006 students graduated, including 1,099 community policing officers for the State Guard, 103 custodial officers and technical guides, and 7,077 personnel in continuing education (basic skills).
For the Attorney General’s Office, 257 people were trained as forensic experts, public prosecutors, and investigative police officers. In addition, 1,470 people graduated from continuing education programs in specialized courses.
The USJT was created on November 25, 2014, with the mission of providing initial and ongoing training to all members of the State Public Security Secretariat and the Attorney General’s Office. “It is a cutting-edge model in the country, as it also offers higher education to anyone interested, through four bachelor’s degrees and two master’s degrees. 71% of students graduate with all required credits completed.”
The institution has a 7.2% scholarship rate for students and 10.3% receive food assistance. Specialized courses have been offered to the Attorney General’s Office on topics such as: police protocols for responding to cases of violence against women and femicide; training and certification of public servants in matters of enforced disappearance; the national search system; and basic skills for investigative police officers.
Initial training is also offered for forensic experts, gender-sensitive law enforcement, victim and vulnerable group support, the national transfer protocol, training for investigative police officers and public prosecutors, as well as training in preliminary hearings, trial proceedings, and litigation techniques.
Source: milenio
