How much debt do Central Penn College criminal justice graduates have?

The median federal loan balance is $47,319, which ranks 30th lowest of 30 criminal justice bachelor's programs in Pennsylvania. That works out to about $502 a month over 10 years.

Is a criminal justice degree from Central Penn College worth it?

It depends on your other options. Debt equals 118% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 67%. Compare the cost with other Pennsylvania programs before deciding.

Central Penn College Criminal Justice (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt

Q: Do Central Penn College criminal justice graduates stay in Pennsylvania?

Most do. 96% (50 of 52) were working in Pennsylvania one year after graduating.

Bachelor's in Criminal Justice and Corrections
Private for-profit college
Summerdale, PA
About 21 graduates a year

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

Central Penn College criminal justice graduates earn about what criminal justice graduates earn nationally, $40,145 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $47,319 in federal loans, more than at 98% of criminal justice programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying criminal justice degrees in Pennsylvania.

First-year earnings$40,14568th percentile of 557 programs nationally

Median federal debt$47,31930th lowest of 30 Pennsylvania programs

Debt-to-earnings118%Pennsylvania median 73%, national 67%

How it compares

Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Pennsylvania and national columns are the medians across all criminal justice bachelor's programs that report the figure.

	Central Penn College	Pennsylvania	National
Earnings, 1 year after graduating	$40,145	$37,562	$37,641
Median federal debt at graduation	$47,319	$27,000	$26,000
Debt as share of first-year pay	118%	73%	67%
Programs compared		30	557

Debt and first-year pay at every Pennsylvania criminal justice program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Pennsylvania medians.

Central Penn CollegeOther Pennsylvania programs

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Paying back the loans

On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $502 a month, or 15.0% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.

Two years into repayment (60 borrowers)	Share
Paused payments (forbearance)	40–59%

The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.

Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth

96% of graduates (50 of 52) were working in Pennsylvania one year after graduating. Prices in the Harrisburg area are about 1% below the national average, so a $40,145 salary here buys what about $40,694 buys in a typical US city.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to criminal justice, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Security Guards

$37,050

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 43,610 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 156,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $30,050Top 10%: $54,830

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

$85,470

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 26,510 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 51,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $48,680Top 10%: $109,780

Compliance Officers

$85,580

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 19,810 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 32,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $49,910Top 10%: $130,990

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$50,820

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 16,200 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 33,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $38,430Top 10%: $78,470

About Central Penn College

Tuition and fees	$19,854 / year
Average net price after aid	$18,953 / year
Admission rate	18%
Graduation rate (within 6 years)	51%
Undergraduate students	662

Criminal Justice ranks 6th of 6 bachelor's programs at Central Penn College by first-year earnings. The top three are Accounting ($52,185), Computer Science ($49,718), and Business Administration ($49,497).

Other criminal justice bachelor's programs near Summerdale

School	Distance	Year 1 pay	Debt
Central Penn CollegeSummerdale, PA · private for-profit		$40,145	$47,319
York College of PennsylvaniaYork, PA · private nonprofit	27 mi	$42,175	$26,000
Shippensburg University of PennsylvaniaShippensburg, PA · public	35 mi	$41,143	$26,000
Alvernia UniversityReading, PA · private nonprofit	53 mi	$39,940	$30,250
Commonwealth University of PennsylvaniaBloomsburg, PA · public	55 mi	$37,839	$27,000
Penn StateUniversity Park, PA · public	59 mi	$37,240	$26,000

Common questions

The median graduate earns $40,145 one year after graduating. The median across criminal justice bachelor's programs in Pennsylvania is $37,562.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Pennsylvania comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the criminal justice program.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024

Criminal Justice bachelor's programs in Pennsylvania, ranked30 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice bachelor's programs in the US, ranked557 programs by pay and debt All Central Penn College programs, ranked7 programs by pay and debt