Western Carolina University Criminal Justice (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Criminal Justice and Corrections
- Public university
- Cullowhee, NC
- About 156 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Western Carolina University criminal justice graduates earn about what criminal justice graduates earn nationally, $38,682 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $21,461 in federal loans, less than at 83% of criminal justice programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying criminal justice degrees in North Carolina.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The North Carolina and national columns are the medians across all criminal justice bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Western Carolina University graduates earn about the national figure and about $8,541 more than the North Carolina median.
Debt and first-year pay at every North Carolina criminal justice program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the North 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 38% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned $3,547 less in their first year than other graduates. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $228 a month, or 7.1% 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. Separately, 83 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $17,030.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
84% of graduates (143 of 171) were working in North Carolina one year after graduating. Prices in the parts of North Carolina outside metro areas are about 12% below the national average, so a $38,682 salary here buys what about $43,753 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
$35,010Median pay in North Carolina. 29,830 people work in this job in North 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
$59,300Median pay in North Carolina. 22,370 people work in this job in North 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
$78,500Median pay in North Carolina. 11,320 people work in this job in North 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
$59,610Median pay in North Carolina. 13,010 people work in this job in North 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 Western Carolina University
Criminal Justice ranks 16th of 41 bachelor's programs at Western Carolina University by first-year earnings. The top three are Electrical Engineering ($69,067), Nursing ($68,774), and Electrical Engineering Technology ($67,003).
Other criminal justice bachelor's programs near Cullowhee
Common questions
The median graduate earns $38,682 one year after graduating and $53,478 five years after. The median across criminal justice bachelor's programs in North Carolina is $34,146.
The median federal loan balance is $21,461, which ranks 3rd lowest of 24 criminal justice bachelor's programs in North Carolina. That works out to about $228 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 55% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 67%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 5% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several North Carolina programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 84% (143 of 171) were working in North 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 North 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