Which Florida criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

Valencia College reports the lowest median federal debt, $10,500, with first-year pay of $33,246.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in Florida?

The median across 6 Florida criminal justice associate's programs is $33,950 in the first year after graduating and $43,937 five years after.

How many criminal justice associate's programs are in Florida?

6 Florida programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 6 of them also report federal debt.

Criminal Justice (Associate's) Programs in Florida, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

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

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Florida criminal justice associate's program pays its graduates $33,950 in their first year, $600 more than the national median. Saint Leo University reports the highest first-year pay ($37,236), and Valencia College the lowest median debt ($10,500).

Median first-year pay$33,950National $33,350

Median pay after 5 years$43,937National $45,011

Median federal debt$12,942National $12,524

Debt-to-earnings37%National 37%

All 6 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	Saint Leo UniversitySaint Leo · private nonprofit	$37,236	$65,595	$30,452	82%
2	Seminole State College of FloridaSanford · public	$36,589	$48,677	$12,942	35%
3	Broward CollegeFort Lauderdale · public	$34,607	$44,288	$10,724	31%
4	Keiser UniversityFort Lauderdale · private nonprofit	$33,292	$43,026	$25,366	76%
5	Valencia CollegeOrlando · public	$33,246	$35,792	$10,500	32%
6	Hillsborough CollegeTampa · public	$33,013	$43,586	$12,654	38%

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

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 the 6 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Saint Leo University$37,236
Seminole State College of Florida$36,589
Broward College$34,607
Keiser University$33,292
Valencia College$33,246

Lowest median debt

Valencia College$10,500
Broward College$10,724
Hillsborough College$12,654
Seminole State College of Florida$12,942
Keiser University$25,366

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

$35,900

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $29,470Top 10%: $46,090

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

$74,470

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $51,330Top 10%: $98,190

Compliance Officers

$74,920

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $44,130Top 10%: $127,420

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$56,550

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $39,760Top 10%: $79,580

Common questions

Saint Leo University in Saint Leo reports the highest median first-year pay, $37,236. Its median federal debt is $30,452.

Criminal Justice (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked246 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) programs in Florida, ranked14 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Certificate) programs in Florida, ranked20 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 Florida rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the criminal justice associate'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