Which North Carolina criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

Rowan-Cabarrus Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $10,625, with first-year pay of $46,993.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in North Carolina?

The median across 14 North Carolina criminal justice certificate programs is $46,997 in the first year after graduating and $47,533 five years after.

How many criminal justice certificate programs are in North Carolina?

14 North Carolina programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 8 of them also report federal debt.

Criminal Justice (Certificate) Programs in North Carolina, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

14 programs report first-year pay
8 also report federal debt
Certificate in Criminal Justice and Corrections

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median North Carolina criminal justice certificate program pays its graduates $46,997 in their first year, $4,387 less than the national median. Cape Fear Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($52,282), and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College the lowest median debt ($10,625).

Median first-year pay$46,997National $51,384

Median pay after 5 years$47,533National $53,003

Median federal debt$17,280National $14,828

Debt-to-earnings35%National 26%

All 14 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	Cape Fear Community CollegeWilmington · public	$52,282	$47,840	$16,042	31%
2	Gaston CollegeDallas · public	$50,038	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
3	Durham Technical Community CollegeDurham · public	$49,893	Not reported	$17,750	36%
4	Forsyth Technical Community CollegeWinston-Salem · public	$48,388	Not reported	$21,066	44%
5	Wilson Community CollegeWilson · public	$48,304	Not reported	$17,060	35%
6	South Piedmont Community CollegePolkton · public	$47,748	Not reported	$17,823	37%
7	Mitchell Community CollegeStatesville · public	$47,001	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
8	Rowan-Cabarrus Community CollegeSalisbury · public	$46,993	$55,540	$10,625	23%
9	Western Piedmont Community CollegeMorganton · public	$44,397	$51,065	Not reported	Not reported
10	Cleveland Community CollegeShelby · public	$44,116	$44,800	Not reported	Not reported
11	Coastal Carolina Community CollegeJacksonville · public	$43,070	$49,701	Not reported	Not reported
12	Wilkes Community CollegeWilkesboro · public	$41,251	$44,129	$11,000	27%
13	Wayne Community CollegeGoldsboro · public	$40,557	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
14	Davidson-Davie Community CollegeThomasville · public	$38,392	$44,585	$16,500	43%

6 programs 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 North Carolina criminal justice program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 8 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Cape Fear Community College$52,282
Gaston College$50,038
Durham Technical Community College$49,893
Forsyth Technical Community College$48,388
Wilson Community College$48,304

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

$35,010

Median pay in North Carolina. 29,830 people work in this job in North Carolina. 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%: $29,260Top 10%: $56,020

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

$59,300

Median pay in North Carolina. 22,370 people work in this job in North Carolina. 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%: $46,040Top 10%: $80,240

Compliance Officers

$78,500

Median pay in North Carolina. 11,320 people work in this job in North Carolina. 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%: $45,690Top 10%: $131,180

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$59,610

Median pay in North Carolina. 13,010 people work in this job in North Carolina. 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%: $42,870Top 10%: $76,950

Common questions

Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington reports the highest median first-year pay, $52,282. Its median federal debt is $16,042.

Criminal Justice (Certificate) programs in the US, ranked139 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) programs in North Carolina, ranked24 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 North Carolina rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the criminal justice certificate 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