Which Minnesota criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

Saint Cloud State reports the lowest median federal debt, $21,500, with first-year pay of $49,412.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in Minnesota?

The median across 12 Minnesota criminal justice bachelor's programs is $48,940 in the first year after graduating and $56,994 five years after.

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

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

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

12 programs report first-year pay
11 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 Minnesota criminal justice bachelor's program pays its graduates $48,940 in their first year, $11,299 more than the national median. Saint Mary's University of Minnesota reports the highest first-year pay ($64,894), and Saint Cloud State the lowest median debt ($21,500).

Median first-year pay$48,940National $37,641

Median pay after 5 years$56,994National $53,142

Median federal debt$27,538National $26,000

Debt-to-earnings53%National 67%

All 12 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 Mary's University of MinnesotaWinona · private nonprofit	$64,894	$61,677	$28,708	44%
2	Metropolitan State UniversitySaint Paul · public	$52,125	$60,410	$29,426	56%
3	Walden UniversityMinneapolis · private for-profit	$50,634	$52,446	$48,133	95%
4	Bemidji StateBemidji · public	$49,617	$61,873	$23,181	47%
5	Saint Cloud StateSaint Cloud · public	$49,412	$56,967	$21,500	44%
6	Minnesota State MankatoMankato · public	$49,019	$61,661	$25,000	51%
7	Winona StateWinona · public	$48,861	$62,593	$26,012	53%
8	Capella UniversityMinneapolis · private for-profit	$47,606	$56,994	$36,500	77%
9	Minnesota State MoorheadMoorhead · public	$44,037	$52,769	$23,485	53%
10	Concordia University-Saint PaulSaint Paul · private nonprofit	$42,607	$69,579	$28,076	66%
11	Rasmussen UniversitySt. Cloud · private for-profit	$39,317	$45,036	$42,037	107%
12	University of Minnesota-CrookstonCrookston · public	$33,062	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

University of Minnesota-Crookston reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

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

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

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota$64,894
Metropolitan State University$52,125
Walden University$50,634
Bemidji State$49,617
Saint Cloud State$49,412

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

$43,380

Median pay in Minnesota. 14,440 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $33,760Top 10%: $65,090

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

$83,360

Median pay in Minnesota. 9,160 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $60,670Top 10%: $106,160

Compliance Officers

$85,920

Median pay in Minnesota. 6,140 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $55,830Top 10%: $134,040

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$67,450

Median pay in Minnesota. 6,540 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $47,890Top 10%: $99,320

Common questions

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota in Winona reports the highest median first-year pay, $64,894. Its median federal debt is $28,708.

Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked557 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Associate's) programs in Minnesota, 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 Minnesota 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