Which California criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

Carrington College-Sacramento reports the lowest median federal debt, $8,045, with first-year pay of $30,217.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in California?

The median across 11 California criminal justice certificate programs is $62,350 in the first year after graduating and $47,694 five years after.

How many criminal justice certificate programs are in California?

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

Criminal Justice (Certificate) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

11 programs report first-year pay
8 also report federal debt
Certificate in Criminal Justice and Corrections

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California criminal justice certificate program pays its graduates $62,350 in their first year, $10,966 more than the national median. Santa Rosa Junior College reports the highest first-year pay ($111,649), and Carrington College-Sacramento the lowest median debt ($8,045).

Median first-year pay$62,350National $51,384

Median pay after 5 years$47,694National $53,003

Median federal debt$13,355National $14,828

Debt-to-earnings24%National 26%

All 11 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	Santa Rosa Junior CollegeSanta Rosa · public	$111,649	$93,404	$14,125	13%
2	San Bernardino Valley CollegeSan Bernardino · public	$94,285	$45,460	$19,500	21%
3	San Diego Miramar CollegeSan Diego · public	$91,647	Not reported	$13,738	15%
4	Moreno Valley CollegeMoreno Valley · public	$81,339	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
5	Butte CollegeOroville · public	$73,170	$84,378	$15,414	21%
6	Yuba CollegeMarysville · public	$62,350	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
7	Fresno City CollegeFresno · public	$35,848	$47,694	Not reported	Not reported
8	Carrington College-SacramentoSacramento · private for-profit	$30,217	Not reported	$8,045	27%
9	UEI College-Huntington ParkHuntington Park · private for-profit	$29,663	$33,255	$9,500	32%
10	UEI College-FresnoFresno · private for-profit	$23,849	$26,048	$9,500	40%
11	UEI College-GardenaGardena · private for-profit	$23,026	$31,769	$9,500	41%

Moreno Valley College, Yuba College, and Fresno City College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

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 8 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

Santa Rosa Junior College in Santa Rosa reports the highest median first-year pay, $111,649. Its median federal debt is $14,125.

Criminal Justice (Certificate) programs in the US, ranked139 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) programs in California, ranked20 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Associate's) programs in California, ranked21 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 certificate 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