Piedmont Technical College Criminal Justice (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Criminal Justice and Corrections
- Public college
- Greenwood, SC
- About 29 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Piedmont Technical College criminal justice graduates earn about what criminal justice graduates earn nationally, $32,721 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $20,650 in federal loans, more than at 84% of criminal justice programs in the country. Several South Carolina programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The South Carolina and national columns are the medians across all criminal justice associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Piedmont Technical College graduates earn less than the national figure and about the same as the South Carolina median.
Debt and first-year pay at every South Carolina criminal justice program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the South Carolina 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 31% 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 $219 a month, or 8.0% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
105% of graduates (23 of 22) were working in South Carolina one year after graduating. Prices in the parts of South Carolina outside metro areas are about 14% below the national average, so a $32,721 salary here buys what about $37,967 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
$35,460Median pay in South Carolina. 16,610 people work in this job in South Carolina. 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
$58,070Median pay in South Carolina. 12,930 people work in this job in South Carolina. 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
$75,460Median pay in South Carolina. 4,760 people work in this job in South Carolina. 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
$51,800Median pay in South Carolina. 5,520 people work in this job in South Carolina. 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 Piedmont Technical College
Criminal Justice ranks 7th of 11 associate's programs at Piedmont Technical College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($69,883), Electromechanical Technology ($53,518), and Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($50,683).
Other criminal justice associate's programs near Greenwood
Common questions
The median graduate earns $32,721 one year after graduating and $42,853 five years after. The median across criminal justice associate's programs in South Carolina is $33,014.
The median federal loan balance is $20,650, which ranks 5th lowest of 5 criminal justice associate's programs in South Carolina. That works out to about $219 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 63% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 37%. Compare the cost with other South Carolina programs before deciding.
Most do. 105% (23 of 22) were working in South Carolina 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 South Carolina 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