Which Michigan criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

Delta College reports the lowest median federal debt, $9,784, with first-year pay of $44,637.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in Michigan?

The median across 13 Michigan criminal justice associate's programs is $44,635 in the first year after graduating and $55,658 five years after.

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

13 Michigan programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 9 of them also report federal debt.

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

13 programs report first-year pay
9 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 Michigan criminal justice associate's program pays its graduates $44,635 in their first year, $11,285 more than the national median. Northwestern Michigan College reports the highest first-year pay ($52,976), and Delta College the lowest median debt ($9,784).

Median first-year pay$44,635National $33,350

Median pay after 5 years$55,658National $45,011

Median federal debt$13,506National $12,524

Debt-to-earnings32%National 37%

All 13 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	Northwestern Michigan CollegeTraverse City · public	$52,976	$48,384	Not reported	Not reported
2	Oakland Community CollegeAuburn Hills · public	$51,827	$68,864	$13,506	26%
3	Schoolcraft Community College DistrictLivonia · public	$49,224	$63,463	$11,868	24%
4	Ferris StateBig Rapids · public	$48,203	$62,783	$18,500	38%
5	Grand Rapids Community CollegeGrand Rapids · public	$48,049	$37,695	$12,101	25%
6	Delta CollegeUniversity Center · public	$44,637	$47,258	$9,784	22%
7	Lake Superior StateSault Ste Marie · public	$44,635	$62,598	$14,375	32%
8	Baker CollegeOwosso · private nonprofit	$44,354	$41,758	$18,298	41%
9	Jackson CollegeJackson · public	$39,162	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
10	Mott Community CollegeFlint · public	$34,127	$40,326	$16,781	49%
11	St Clair County Community CollegePort Huron · public	$32,691	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
12	Alpena Community CollegeAlpena · public	$30,201	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
13	Henry Ford CollegeDearborn · public	$26,336	$52,948	$15,200	58%

Northwestern Michigan College, Jackson College, St Clair County Community College, and Alpena Community College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. 2 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 9 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Northwestern Michigan College$52,976
Oakland Community College$51,827
Schoolcraft Community College District$49,224
Ferris State$48,203
Grand Rapids Community College$48,049

Lowest median debt

Delta College$9,784
Schoolcraft Community College District$11,868
Grand Rapids Community College$12,101
Oakland Community College$13,506
Lake Superior State$14,375

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

$37,080

Median pay in Michigan. 25,240 people work in this job in Michigan. 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%: $29,790Top 10%: $54,770

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

$73,730

Median pay in Michigan. 16,750 people work in this job in Michigan. 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%: $47,780Top 10%: $89,220

Compliance Officers

$77,390

Median pay in Michigan. 9,720 people work in this job in Michigan. 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%: $46,290Top 10%: $120,560

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$59,270

Median pay in Michigan. 15,760 people work in this job in Michigan. 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%: $41,260Top 10%: $81,100

Common questions

Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City reports the highest median first-year pay, $52,976.

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