Hillsborough College Criminal Justice (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Criminal Justice and Corrections
- Public college
- Tampa, FL
- About 71 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Hillsborough College criminal justice graduates earn about what criminal justice graduates earn nationally, $33,013 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $12,654 in federal loans, close to the national median of $12,524. Several Florida programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Florida and national columns are the medians across all criminal justice associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Hillsborough College graduates earn less than the national figure and about the same as the Florida median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Florida criminal justice program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Florida 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 32% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $134 a month, or 4.9% 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.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
94% of graduates (79 of 84) were working in Florida one year after graduating. Prices in the Tampa area are about 1% above the national average, so a $33,013 salary here buys what about $32,722 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
$35,900Median pay in Florida. 95,370 people work in this job in Florida. 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
$74,470Median pay in Florida. 43,630 people work in this job in Florida. 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
$74,920Median pay in Florida. 29,680 people work in this job in Florida. 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
$56,550Median pay in Florida. 14,000 people work in this job in Florida. 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 Hillsborough College
Criminal Justice ranks 11th of 13 associate's programs at Hillsborough College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($64,429), Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($62,961), and Dental Hygiene and Assisting ($62,731).
Other criminal justice associate's programs near Tampa
Common questions
The median graduate earns $33,013 one year after graduating and $43,586 five years after. The median across criminal justice associate's programs in Florida is $33,950.
The median federal loan balance is $12,654, which ranks 3rd lowest of 6 criminal justice associate's programs in Florida. That works out to about $134 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 38% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 37%. Compare the cost with other Florida programs before deciding.
Most do. 94% (79 of 84) were working in Florida 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 Florida 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