Which New Jersey criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

Middlesex College reports the lowest median federal debt, $8,119, with first-year pay of $32,712.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in New Jersey?

The median across 12 New Jersey criminal justice associate's programs is $29,226 in the first year after graduating and $48,280 five years after.

How many criminal justice associate's programs are in New Jersey?

12 New Jersey programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 10 of them also report federal debt.

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

12 programs report first-year pay
10 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 New Jersey criminal justice associate's program pays its graduates $29,226 in their first year, $4,125 less than the national median. Middlesex College reports the highest first-year pay ($32,712), and Middlesex College the lowest median debt ($8,119).

Median first-year pay$29,226National $33,350

Median pay after 5 years$48,280National $45,011

Median federal debt$10,000National $12,524

Debt-to-earnings38%National 37%

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	Middlesex CollegeEdison · public	$32,712	$49,368	$8,119	25%
2	Sussex County Community CollegeNewton · public	$32,079	$41,832	$9,875	31%
3	Essex County CollegeNewark · public	$31,908	$44,582	Not reported	Not reported
4	UCNJ Union College of Union County New JerseyCranford · public	$30,629	$51,857	$11,343	37%
5	Brookdale Community CollegeLincroft · public	$30,595	$51,052	$9,721	32%
6	Berkeley College-Woodland ParkWoodland Park · private for-profit	$29,460	$48,404	$16,716	57%
7	Rowan College of South Jersey-Gloucester CampusSewell · public	$28,991	$47,520	$12,000	41%
8	Rowan College at Burlington CountyMount Laurel · public	$27,775	$49,134	$10,000	36%
9	Camden County CollegeBlackwood · public	$27,603	$48,280	$11,000	40%
10	Ocean County CollegeToms River · public	$27,321	$46,885	$11,000	40%
11	County College of MorrisRandolph · public	$23,024	$47,996	$9,040	39%
12	Hudson County Community CollegeJersey City · public	$20,232	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

Essex County College and Hudson County Community College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every New Jersey criminal justice program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 10 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Middlesex College$32,712
Sussex County Community College$32,079
Essex County College$31,908
UCNJ Union College of Union County New Jersey$30,629
Brookdale Community College$30,595

Lowest median debt

Middlesex College$8,119
County College of Morris$9,040
Brookdale Community College$9,721
Sussex County Community College$9,875
Rowan College at Burlington County$10,000

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

$38,880

Median pay in New Jersey. 41,540 people work in this job in New Jersey. 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%: $32,230Top 10%: $60,420

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

$92,610

Median pay in New Jersey. 21,780 people work in this job in New Jersey. 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%: $57,740Top 10%: $134,260

Compliance Officers

$100,000

Median pay in New Jersey. 13,310 people work in this job in New Jersey. 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%: $58,860Top 10%: $158,540

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$76,280

Median pay in New Jersey. 7,360 people work in this job in New Jersey. 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%: $47,830Top 10%: $109,420

Common questions

Middlesex College in Edison reports the highest median first-year pay, $32,712. Its median federal debt is $8,119.

Criminal Justice (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked246 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) programs in New Jersey, ranked15 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 New Jersey 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