Which Ohio criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

Cuyahoga Community College District reports the lowest median federal debt, $7,149, with first-year pay of $38,595.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in Ohio?

The median across 9 Ohio criminal justice associate's programs is $38,595 in the first year after graduating and $46,433 five years after.

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

9 Ohio programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 8 of them also report federal debt.

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

9 programs report first-year pay
8 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 Ohio criminal justice associate's program pays its graduates $38,595 in their first year, $5,245 more than the national median. North Central State College reports the highest first-year pay ($47,397), and Cuyahoga Community College District the lowest median debt ($7,149).

Median first-year pay$38,595National $33,350

Median pay after 5 years$46,433National $45,011

Median federal debt$15,136National $12,524

Debt-to-earnings44%National 37%

All 9 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	North Central State CollegeMansfield · public	$47,397	Not reported	$10,782	23%
2	Ohio UniversityAthens · public	$44,159	$54,874	$13,500	31%
3	Central Ohio Technical CollegeNewark · public	$40,065	$53,096	Not reported	Not reported
4	Owens Community CollegePerrysburg · public	$38,671	$48,220	$17,776	46%
5	Cuyahoga Community College DistrictCleveland · public	$38,595	$46,113	$7,149	19%
6	University of CincinnatiCincinnati · public	$38,399	$55,844	$16,799	44%
7	University of AkronAkron · public	$35,094	$46,433	$15,625	45%
8	Stark State CollegeNorth Canton · public	$35,014	$47,319	$16,350	47%
9	Hocking CollegeNelsonville · public	$33,845	$46,437	$14,750	44%

Central Ohio Technical College reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. 4 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

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

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

North Central State College$47,397
Ohio University$44,159
Central Ohio Technical College$40,065
Owens Community College$38,671
Cuyahoga Community College District$38,595

Lowest median debt

Cuyahoga Community College District$7,149
North Central State College$10,782
Ohio University$13,500
Hocking College$14,750
University of Akron$15,625

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

$35,770

Median pay in Ohio. 34,450 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $29,030Top 10%: $55,440

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

$77,020

Median pay in Ohio. 23,430 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $51,110Top 10%: $103,210

Compliance Officers

$75,030

Median pay in Ohio. 11,240 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $47,230Top 10%: $124,230

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$51,520

Median pay in Ohio. 16,050 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $39,810Top 10%: $75,850

Common questions

North Central State College in Mansfield reports the highest median first-year pay, $47,397. Its median federal debt is $10,782.

Criminal Justice (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked246 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) programs in Ohio, ranked17 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Certificate) programs in Ohio, 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 Ohio 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