Which California criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

CSUN reports the lowest median federal debt, $11,000, with first-year pay of $34,870.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in California?

The median across 20 California criminal justice bachelor's programs is $36,003 in the first year after graduating and $59,449 five years after.

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

20 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 20 of them also report federal debt.

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

20 programs report first-year pay
20 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 California criminal justice bachelor's program pays its graduates $36,003 in their first year, $1,639 less than the national median. National University reports the highest first-year pay ($64,143), and CSUN the lowest median debt ($11,000).

Median first-year pay$36,003National $37,641

Median pay after 5 years$59,449National $53,142

Median federal debt$14,459National $26,000

Debt-to-earnings41%National 67%

All 20 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	National UniversitySan Diego · private nonprofit	$64,143	$57,213	$28,014	44%
2	Cal State East BayHayward · public	$45,387	$69,766	$15,500	34%
3	Point Loma Nazarene UniversitySan Diego · private nonprofit	$45,022	Not reported	$14,000	31%
4	California Lutheran UniversityThousand Oaks · private nonprofit	$43,122	$67,177	$20,000	46%
5	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$42,211	$64,458	$13,518	32%
6	Azusa Pacific UniversityAzusa · private nonprofit	$40,091	Not reported	$21,750	54%
7	Sacramento StateSacramento · public	$38,606	$63,820	$13,745	36%
8	Sonoma StateRohnert Park · public	$38,444	$68,047	$20,000	52%
9	Cal State Dominguez HillsCarson · public	$36,092	$54,596	$12,256	34%
10	Chico StateChico · public	$36,045	$58,616	$16,331	45%
11	California Baptist UniversityRiverside · private nonprofit	$35,960	$65,292	$26,372	73%
12	Cal State San BernardinoSan Bernardino · public	$35,029	$54,814	$14,917	43%
13	La Sierra UniversityRiverside · private nonprofit	$34,885	$60,162	$31,000	89%
14	CSUNNorthridge · public	$34,870	Not reported	$11,000	32%
15	Stanislaus StateTurlock · public	$34,806	$62,061	$12,500	36%
16	Cal State FullertonFullerton · public	$34,570	$58,736	$11,000	32%
17	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$34,247	$62,999	$15,000	44%
18	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$33,261	$55,637	$12,998	39%
19	Cal State LALos Angeles · public	$32,974	$56,580	$11,679	35%
20	Fresno StateFresno · public	$32,257	$56,500	$13,889	43%

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 20 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

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

$43,240

Median pay in California. 199,480 people work in this job in California. 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%: $36,010Top 10%: $57,880

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

$118,880

Median pay in California. 65,940 people work in this job in California. 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%: $76,300Top 10%: $153,190

Compliance Officers

$96,980

Median pay in California. 49,880 people work in this job in California. 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%: $57,530Top 10%: $158,280

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$65,200

Median pay in California. 60,310 people work in this job in California. 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%: $45,360Top 10%: $103,050

Common questions

National University in San Diego reports the highest median first-year pay, $64,143. Its median federal debt is $28,014.

Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked557 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Associate's) programs in California, ranked21 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Certificate) programs in California, ranked11 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 California 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