Which Arkansas criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

University of Arkansas-Fort Smith reports the lowest median federal debt, $18,750, with first-year pay of $33,460.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in Arkansas?

The median across 8 Arkansas criminal justice bachelor's programs is $36,808 in the first year after graduating and $43,544 five years after.

How many criminal justice bachelor's programs are in Arkansas?

8 Arkansas programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 8 of them also report federal debt.

Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) Programs in Arkansas, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

8 programs report first-year pay
8 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Criminal Justice and Corrections

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Arkansas criminal justice bachelor's program pays its graduates $36,808 in their first year, $834 less than the national median. University of Arkansas Grantham reports the highest first-year pay ($50,520), and University of Arkansas-Fort Smith the lowest median debt ($18,750).

Median first-year pay$36,808National $37,641

Median pay after 5 years$43,544National $53,142

Median federal debt$26,000National $26,000

Debt-to-earnings74%National 67%

All 8 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	University of Arkansas GranthamLIttle Rock · public	$50,520	Not reported	$39,972	79%
2	UA Little RockLittle Rock · public	$40,989	$47,255	$30,026	73%
3	Harding UniversitySearcy · private nonprofit	$38,818	$54,330	$24,955	64%
4	University of ArkansasFayetteville · public	$38,083	$54,718	$25,385	67%
5	University of Arkansas at Pine BluffPine Bluff · public	$35,532	$39,495	$27,000	76%
6	Arkansas Tech UniversityRussellville · public	$35,207	Not reported	$26,000	74%
7	University of Arkansas-Fort SmithFort Smith · public	$33,460	$43,544	$18,750	56%
8	Southern Arkansas UniversityMagnolia · public	$28,541	$43,230	$22,349	78%

One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Arkansas criminal justice program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Arkansas medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 8 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

University of Arkansas Grantham$50,520
UA Little Rock$40,989
Harding University$38,818
University of Arkansas$38,083
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff$35,532

Lowest median debt

University of Arkansas-Fort Smith$18,750
Southern Arkansas University$22,349
Harding University$24,955
University of Arkansas$25,385
Arkansas Tech University$26,000

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$35,770

Median pay in Arkansas. 6,390 people work in this job in Arkansas. 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.

Bottom 10%: $28,870Top 10%: $57,410

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

$47,670

Median pay in Arkansas. 5,710 people work in this job in Arkansas. 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.

Bottom 10%: $35,210Top 10%: $70,190

Compliance Officers

$64,680

Median pay in Arkansas. 3,120 people work in this job in Arkansas. 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.

Bottom 10%: $43,160Top 10%: $132,760

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$43,330

Median pay in Arkansas. 1,150 people work in this job in Arkansas. 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.

Bottom 10%: $36,070Top 10%: $59,470

Common questions

University of Arkansas Grantham in LIttle Rock reports the highest median first-year pay, $50,520. Its median federal debt is $39,972.

Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked557 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 Arkansas rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the criminal justice bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024