Iowa State Criminal Justice (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Criminal Justice and Corrections
- Public university
- Ames, IA
- About 110 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Iowa State criminal justice graduates earn more than graduates of most criminal justice programs nationally, $41,624 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $23,250 in federal loans, close to the national median of $26,000. Several Iowa programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Iowa and national columns are the medians across all criminal justice bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every Iowa criminal justice program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Iowa medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned about the same in their first year as other graduates. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $246 a month, or 7.1% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
60 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $25,164.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
64% of graduates (101 of 157) were working in Iowa one year after graduating. Prices in the Ames area are about 11% below the national average, so a $41,624 salary here buys what about $46,858 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
$37,080Median pay in Iowa. 6,890 people work in this job in Iowa. 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 Iowa. 5,130 people work in this job in Iowa. 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
$75,620Median pay in Iowa. 3,660 people work in this job in Iowa. 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
$52,250Median pay in Iowa. 3,410 people work in this job in Iowa. 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 Iowa State
Criminal Justice ranks 38th of 63 bachelor's programs at Iowa State by first-year earnings. The top three are Electrical Engineering ($84,913), Computer Engineering ($79,182), and Computer Science ($78,517).
Other criminal justice bachelor's programs near Ames
Common questions
The median graduate earns $41,624 one year after graduating. The median across criminal justice bachelor's programs in Iowa is $42,862.
The median federal loan balance is $23,250, which ranks 2nd lowest of 9 criminal justice bachelor's programs in Iowa. That works out to about $246 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 56% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 67%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Iowa programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 64% (101 of 157) were working in Iowa 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 Iowa 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