Which Pennsylvania criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

Bucks County Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $10,169, with first-year pay of $28,719.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in Pennsylvania?

The median across 12 Pennsylvania criminal justice associate's programs is $33,141 in the first year after graduating and $46,499 five years after.

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

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

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

12 programs report first-year pay
11 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 Pennsylvania criminal justice associate's program pays its graduates $33,141 in their first year, $210 less than the national median. Montgomery County Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($47,990), and Bucks County Community College the lowest median debt ($10,169).

Median first-year pay$33,141National $33,350

Median pay after 5 years$46,499National $45,011

Median federal debt$12,547National $12,524

Debt-to-earnings37%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	Montgomery County Community CollegeBlue Bell · public	$47,990	$53,757	$13,335	28%
2	Harrisburg Area Community CollegeHarrisburg · public	$37,916	$45,136	$15,750	42%
3	YTI Career Institute-YorkYork · private for-profit	$36,634	$46,590	$18,500	50%
4	Pennsylvania Western UniversityCalifornia · public	$34,873	$49,179	Not reported	Not reported
5	Community College of PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia · public	$34,224	$45,761	$14,250	42%
6	Lehigh Carbon Community CollegeSchnecksville · public	$33,360	$46,407	$11,000	33%
7	Community College of Allegheny CountyPittsburgh · public	$32,921	$48,215	$12,004	36%
8	Luzerne County Community CollegeNanticoke · public	$32,847	$46,722	$12,000	37%
9	Pennsylvania Highlands Community CollegeJohnstown · public	$31,499	$46,740	$11,315	36%
10	Northampton County Area Community CollegeBethlehem · public	$31,430	$47,582	$17,449	56%
11	Bucks County Community CollegeNewtown · public	$28,719	$50,544	$10,169	35%
12	Lackawanna CollegeScranton · private nonprofit	$22,394	$36,152	$18,965	85%

Pennsylvania Western University 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 Pennsylvania criminal justice program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 11 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Montgomery County Community College$47,990
Harrisburg Area Community College$37,916
YTI Career Institute-York$36,634
Pennsylvania Western University$34,873
Community College of Philadelphia$34,224

Lowest median debt

Bucks County Community College$10,169
Lehigh Carbon Community College$11,000
Pennsylvania Highlands Community College$11,315
Luzerne County Community College$12,000
Community College of Allegheny County$12,004

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

$37,050

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 43,610 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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%: $30,050Top 10%: $54,830

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

$85,470

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 26,510 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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%: $48,680Top 10%: $109,780

Compliance Officers

$85,580

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 19,810 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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%: $49,910Top 10%: $130,990

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$50,820

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 16,200 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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%: $38,430Top 10%: $78,470

Common questions

Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell reports the highest median first-year pay, $47,990. Its median federal debt is $13,335.

Criminal Justice (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked246 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) programs in Pennsylvania, ranked30 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 Pennsylvania 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