Which Ohio criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

Eastland-Fairfield Career and Technical Schools reports the lowest median federal debt, $7,874, with first-year pay of $53,090.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in Ohio?

The median across 11 Ohio criminal justice certificate programs is $46,623 in the first year after graduating and $63,196 five years after.

How many criminal justice certificate programs are in Ohio?

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

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

11 programs report first-year pay
6 also report federal debt
Certificate in Criminal Justice and Corrections

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Ohio criminal justice certificate program pays its graduates $46,623 in their first year, $4,761 less than the national median. Owens Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($63,966), and Eastland-Fairfield Career and Technical Schools the lowest median debt ($7,874).

Median first-year pay$46,623National $51,384

Median pay after 5 years$63,196National $53,003

Median federal debt$8,555National $14,828

Debt-to-earnings20%National 26%

All 11 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	Owens Community CollegePerrysburg · public	$63,966	Not reported	$13,549	21%
2	Great Oaks Career CampusesCincinnati · public	$60,896	$65,210	$16,673	27%
3	Butler Technology and Career Development SchoolsMonroe · public	$53,759	Not reported	$8,022	15%
4	Eastland-Fairfield Career and Technical SchoolsGroveport · public	$53,090	$63,584	$7,874	15%
5	North Central State CollegeMansfield · public	$53,039	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
6	Greene County Career CenterXenia · public	$46,623	$53,670	$8,919	19%
7	EHOVE Career CenterMilan · public	$45,082	$65,505	Not reported	Not reported
8	Polaris Career CenterMiddleburg Heights · public	$41,966	$63,196	Not reported	Not reported
9	Hocking CollegeNelsonville · public	$40,158	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
10	Buckeye Hills Career CenterRio Grande · public	$39,455	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
11	Sinclair Community CollegeDayton · public	$29,888	$31,556	$8,190	27%

5 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

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 6 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Owens Community College$63,966
Great Oaks Career Campuses$60,896
Butler Technology and Career Development Schools$53,759
Eastland-Fairfield Career and Technical Schools$53,090
North Central State College$53,039

Lowest median debt

Eastland-Fairfield Career and Technical Schools$7,874
Butler Technology and Career Development Schools$8,022
Sinclair Community College$8,190
Greene County Career Center$8,919
Owens Community College$13,549

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

Owens Community College in Perrysburg reports the highest median first-year pay, $63,966. Its median federal debt is $13,549.

Criminal Justice (Certificate) programs in the US, ranked139 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) programs in Ohio, ranked17 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Associate's) programs in Ohio, ranked9 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 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