East Tennessee State Criminal Justice (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Criminal Justice and Corrections
- Public university
- Johnson City, TN
- About 68 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
East Tennessee State criminal justice graduates earn less than graduates of most criminal justice programs nationally, $30,097 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $25,942 in federal loans, close to the national median of $26,000. Several Tennessee programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Tennessee and national columns are the medians across all criminal justice bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, East Tennessee State graduates earn less than the national figure and about $4,062 less than the Tennessee median. Several Tennessee programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every Tennessee criminal justice program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Tennessee medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 45% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned $3,366 less in their first year than other graduates. They also borrowed more. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $275 a month, or 11.0% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
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. Separately, 25 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $17,324.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
72% of graduates (71 of 98) were working in Tennessee one year after graduating. Prices in the Johnson City area are about 12% below the national average, so a $30,097 salary here buys what about $34,229 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
$36,000Median pay in Tennessee. 27,690 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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.
Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
$59,280Median pay in Tennessee. 15,630 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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.
Compliance Officers
$63,960Median pay in Tennessee. 7,990 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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.
Child, Family, and School Social Workers
$56,310Median pay in Tennessee. 7,870 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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.
About East Tennessee State
Criminal Justice ranks 18th of 29 bachelor's programs at East Tennessee State by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($64,459), Engineering Technology ($56,551), and Computer and Information Science ($52,008).
Other criminal justice bachelor's programs near Johnson City
Common questions
The median graduate earns $30,097 one year after graduating and $43,784 five years after. The median across criminal justice bachelor's programs in Tennessee is $35,917.
The median federal loan balance is $25,942, which ranks 6th lowest of 10 criminal justice bachelor's programs in Tennessee. That works out to about $275 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 86% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 67%. Compare the cost with other Tennessee programs before deciding.
Most do. 72% (71 of 98) were working in Tennessee one year after graduating.
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 Tennessee 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