Which Puerto Rico criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

Inter American University of Puerto Rico-Aguadilla reports the lowest median federal debt, $5,500, with first-year pay of $16,702.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in Puerto Rico?

The median across 9 Puerto Rico criminal justice bachelor's programs is $19,052 in the first year after graduating and $27,858 five years after.

How many criminal justice bachelor's programs are in Puerto Rico?

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

Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) Programs in Puerto Rico, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

9 programs report first-year pay
8 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Criminal Justice and Corrections

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Puerto Rico criminal justice bachelor's program pays its graduates $19,052 in their first year, $18,589 less than the national median. NUC University reports the highest first-year pay ($22,882), and Inter American University of Puerto Rico-Aguadilla the lowest median debt ($5,500).

Median first-year pay$19,052National $37,641

Median pay after 5 years$27,858National $53,142

Median federal debt$14,450National $26,000

Debt-to-earnings80%National 67%

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	NUC UniversityBayamon · private for-profit	$22,882	$29,541	$27,000	118%
2	Inter American University of Puerto Rico-PonceMercedita · private nonprofit	$20,129	$30,753	$8,250	41%
3	Inter American University of Puerto Rico-MetroSan Juan · private nonprofit	$19,932	$29,396	$14,750	74%
4	Universidad Ana G. Mendez-Cupey CampusSan Juan · private nonprofit	$19,164	$31,815	$23,509	123%
5	Universidad Ana G. Mendez-Carolina CampusCarolina · private nonprofit	$19,052	$27,016	$15,250	80%
6	Inter American University of Puerto Rico-AguadillaAguadilla · private nonprofit	$16,702	$33,632	$5,500	33%
7	Caribbean University-BayamonBayamon · private nonprofit	$15,127	$29,507	$13,500	89%
8	Inter American University of Puerto Rico-AreciboArecibo · private nonprofit	$13,072	$23,189	$10,500	80%
9	Inter American University of Puerto Rico-FajardoFajardo · private nonprofit	$5,087	$23,039	Not reported	Not reported

Inter American University of Puerto Rico-Fajardo reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. 2 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Puerto Rico criminal justice program

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

NUC University$22,882
Inter American University of Puerto Rico-Ponce$20,129
Inter American University of Puerto Rico-Metro$19,932
Universidad Ana G. Mendez-Cupey Campus$19,164
Universidad Ana G. Mendez-Carolina Campus$19,052

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

$21,840

Median pay in Puerto Rico. 26,100 people work in this job in Puerto Rico. 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%: $21,840Top 10%: $22,890

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

$45,510

Median pay in Puerto Rico. 11,640 people work in this job in Puerto Rico. 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%: $30,500Top 10%: $50,240

Compliance Officers

$48,950

Median pay in Puerto Rico. 5,470 people work in this job in Puerto Rico. 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%: $30,530Top 10%: $99,670

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$43,620

Median pay in Puerto Rico. 3,370 people work in this job in Puerto Rico. 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%: $29,880Top 10%: $61,720

Common questions

NUC University in Bayamon reports the highest median first-year pay, $22,882. Its median federal debt is $27,000.

Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked557 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 Puerto Rico rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the criminal justice bachelor'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