Which Mississippi criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

University of Southern Mississippi reports the lowest median federal debt, $21,125, with first-year pay of $36,315.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in Mississippi?

The median across 6 Mississippi criminal justice bachelor's programs is $33,708 in the first year after graduating and $46,116 five years after.

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

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

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

6 programs report first-year pay
6 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 Mississippi criminal justice bachelor's program pays its graduates $33,708 in their first year, $3,934 less than the national median. Mississippi Christian University reports the highest first-year pay ($37,324), and University of Southern Mississippi the lowest median debt ($21,125).

Median first-year pay$33,708National $37,641

Median pay after 5 years$46,116National $53,142

Median federal debt$25,896National $26,000

Debt-to-earnings71%National 67%

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	Mississippi Christian UniversityClinton · private nonprofit	$37,324	$48,643	$27,000	72%
2	University of Southern MississippiHattiesburg · public	$36,315	$45,264	$21,125	58%
3	William Carey UniversityHattiesburg · private nonprofit	$35,540	Not reported	$24,729	70%
4	Ole MissUniversity · public	$31,875	$50,710	$22,171	70%
5	Alcorn StateAlcorn State · public	$30,617	$46,968	$28,065	92%
6	Jackson StateJackson · public	$27,101	$44,313	$31,000	114%

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

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

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

Mississippi Christian University$37,324
University of Southern Mississippi$36,315
William Carey University$35,540
Ole Miss$31,875
Alcorn State$30,617

Lowest median debt

University of Southern Mississippi$21,125
Ole Miss$22,171
William Carey University$24,729
Mississippi Christian University$27,000
Alcorn State$28,065

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

$29,180

Median pay in Mississippi. 10,160 people work in this job in Mississippi. 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%: $21,690Top 10%: $42,580

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

$46,140

Median pay in Mississippi. 8,070 people work in this job in Mississippi. 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%: $33,230Top 10%: $61,550

Compliance Officers

$67,450

Median pay in Mississippi. 1,720 people work in this job in Mississippi. 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%: $37,040Top 10%: $109,300

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$46,530

Median pay in Mississippi. 3,310 people work in this job in Mississippi. 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%: $33,590Top 10%: $62,130

Common questions

Mississippi Christian University in Clinton reports the highest median first-year pay, $37,324. Its median federal debt is $27,000.

Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked557 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 Mississippi 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