Northcentral Technical College Criminal Justice (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Criminal Justice and Corrections
- Public college
- Wausau, WI
- About 16 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Northcentral Technical College criminal justice graduates earn more than graduates of most criminal justice programs nationally, $39,421 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $9,750 in federal loans, less than at 80% of criminal justice programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying criminal justice degrees in Wisconsin.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Wisconsin and national columns are the medians across all criminal justice associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Northcentral Technical College graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the Wisconsin median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Wisconsin criminal justice program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Wisconsin 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 27% 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 $103 a month, or 3.1% 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
85% of graduates (17 of 20) were working in Wisconsin one year after graduating. Prices in the Wausau area are about 7% below the national average, so a $39,421 salary here buys what about $42,548 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
$37,440Median pay in Wisconsin. 12,030 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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
$78,090Median pay in Wisconsin. 12,320 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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
$78,800Median pay in Wisconsin. 5,710 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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
$59,280Median pay in Wisconsin. 5,710 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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 Northcentral Technical College
Criminal Justice ranks 9th of 14 associate's programs at Northcentral Technical College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($63,958), Allied Health and Medical Assisting ($53,523), and Drafting and Design Technology ($53,105).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $39,421 one year after graduating and $49,985 five years after. The median across criminal justice associate's programs in Wisconsin is $39,298.
The median federal loan balance is $9,750, which ranks the lowest of 10 criminal justice associate's programs in Wisconsin. That works out to about $103 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 25% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 37%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Wisconsin programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 85% (17 of 20) were working in Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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