Howard College Criminal Justice (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Criminal Justice and Corrections
- Public college
- Big Spring, TX
- About 22 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Howard College criminal justice graduates earn about what criminal justice graduates earn nationally, $33,724 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $13,278 in federal loans, close to the national median of $12,524. Several Texas programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Texas and national columns are the medians across all criminal justice associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Howard College graduates earn less than the national figure and about the same as the Texas median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Texas criminal justice program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Texas 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 23% 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 $141 a month, or 5.0% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
94% of graduates (16 of 17) were working in Texas one year after graduating. Prices in the parts of Texas outside metro areas are about 12% below the national average, so a $33,724 salary here buys what about $38,395 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
$35,980Median pay in Texas. 106,210 people work in this job in Texas. 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
$75,900Median pay in Texas. 63,100 people work in this job in Texas. 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
$75,370Median pay in Texas. 42,900 people work in this job in Texas. 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
$55,680Median pay in Texas. 21,670 people work in this job in Texas. 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 Howard College
Criminal Justice ranks 5th of 6 associate's programs at Howard College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($74,542), Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($57,122), and Dental Hygiene and Assisting ($54,428).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $33,724 one year after graduating and $41,556 five years after. The median across criminal justice associate's programs in Texas is $32,561.
The median federal loan balance is $13,278, which ranks 12th lowest of 17 criminal justice associate's programs in Texas. That works out to about $141 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 39% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 37%. Compare the cost with other Texas programs before deciding.
Most do. 94% (16 of 17) were working in Texas 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 Texas 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