Hillsborough College Criminal Justice (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Criminal Justice and Corrections
- Public college
- Tampa, FL
- About 173 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Hillsborough College criminal justice graduates earn more than graduates of most criminal justice programs nationally, $62,249 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $18,924 in federal loans, more than at 81% of criminal justice programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying criminal justice programs in Florida.
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 certificate programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Hillsborough College graduates earn more than the national figure and about $9,010 more than 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 is about the same in 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 $2,112 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 $201 a month, or 3.9% 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. Separately, 38 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $24,341.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
97% of graduates (219 of 225) were working in Florida one year after graduating. Prices in the Tampa area are about 1% above the national average, so a $62,249 salary here buys what about $61,700 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 1st of 11 certificate programs at Hillsborough College by first-year earnings. The top three are Criminal Justice ($62,249), Medical Laboratory Science ($61,237), and Electrician Training ($54,584).
Other criminal justice certificate programs near Tampa
Common questions
The median graduate earns $62,249 one year after graduating and $62,013 five years after. The median across criminal justice certificate programs in Florida is $49,774.
The median federal loan balance is $18,924, which ranks 12th lowest of 13 criminal justice certificate programs in Florida. That works out to about $201 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 30% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 26%. Compare the cost with other Florida programs before deciding.
Most do. 97% (219 of 225) 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