Which Massachusetts criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

Bunker Hill Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $5,500, with first-year pay of $47,573.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in Massachusetts?

The median across 11 Massachusetts criminal justice associate's programs is $37,533 in the first year after graduating and $50,093 five years after.

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

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

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

11 programs report first-year pay
11 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 Massachusetts criminal justice associate's program pays its graduates $37,533 in their first year, $4,183 more than the national median. Bunker Hill Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($47,573), and Bunker Hill Community College the lowest median debt ($5,500).

Median first-year pay$37,533National $33,350

Median pay after 5 years$50,093National $45,011

Median federal debt$7,500National $12,524

Debt-to-earnings20%National 37%

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	Bunker Hill Community CollegeBoston · public	$47,573	$56,124	$5,500	12%
2	Massachusetts Bay Community CollegeWellesley Hills · public	$45,144	$49,823	$6,333	14%
3	Middlesex Community CollegeBedford · public	$41,796	$52,409	$10,950	26%
4	Quinsigamond Community CollegeWorcester · public	$40,039	$50,362	$16,250	41%
5	Northern Essex Community CollegeHaverhill · public	$39,426	$48,911	$7,432	19%
6	Holyoke Community CollegeHolyoke · public	$37,533	$53,689	$5,658	15%
7	Springfield Technical Community CollegeSpringfield · public	$37,044	$44,481	$7,500	20%
8	Massasoit Community CollegeBrockton · public	$36,927	$50,558	$10,875	29%
9	Bristol Community CollegeFall River · public	$36,706	$49,214	$6,700	18%
10	North Shore Community CollegeDanvers · public	$32,379	$55,146	$9,656	30%
11	Mount Wachusett Community CollegeGardner · public	$27,226	$45,851	$13,753	51%

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 11 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Bunker Hill Community College$47,573
Massachusetts Bay Community College$45,144
Middlesex Community College$41,796
Quinsigamond Community College$40,039
Northern Essex Community College$39,426

Lowest median debt

Bunker Hill Community College$5,500
Holyoke Community College$5,658
Massachusetts Bay Community College$6,333
Bristol Community College$6,700
Northern Essex Community College$7,432

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

$44,670

Median pay in Massachusetts. 23,930 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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%: $34,830Top 10%: $55,800

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

$78,940

Median pay in Massachusetts. 17,040 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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%: $61,160Top 10%: $108,150

Compliance Officers

$102,060

Median pay in Massachusetts. 13,190 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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%: $63,340Top 10%: $161,920

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$75,570

Median pay in Massachusetts. 10,900 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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%: $48,140Top 10%: $104,060

Common questions

Bunker Hill Community College in Boston reports the highest median first-year pay, $47,573. Its median federal debt is $5,500.

Criminal Justice (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked246 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) programs in Massachusetts, ranked16 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 Massachusetts 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