Polk State College Criminal Justice (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Criminal Justice and Corrections
- Public college
- Winter Haven, FL
- About 92 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Polk State College criminal justice graduates earn about what criminal justice graduates earn nationally, $53,333 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $13,132 in federal loans, close to the national median of $14,828. Several Florida programs report higher pay.
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.
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.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $139 a month, or 3.1% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
96% of graduates (80 of 83) were working in Florida one year after graduating. Prices in the Lakeland area are about 3% below the national average, so a $53,333 salary here buys what about $54,903 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 Polk State College
Criminal Justice ranks 2nd of 3 certificate programs at Polk State College by first-year earnings. The others are Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($60,894) and Health and Medical Administration ($35,095).
Other criminal justice certificate programs near Winter Haven
Common questions
The median graduate earns $53,333 one year after graduating. The median across criminal justice certificate programs in Florida is $49,774.
The median federal loan balance is $13,132, which ranks 9th lowest of 13 criminal justice certificate programs in Florida. That works out to about $139 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 25% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 26%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Florida programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 96% (80 of 83) 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