Which South Carolina criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

Bob Jones University reports the lowest median federal debt, $18,298, with first-year pay of $31,372.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in South Carolina?

The median across 11 South Carolina criminal justice bachelor's programs is $34,447 in the first year after graduating and $49,134 five years after.

How many criminal justice bachelor's programs are in South Carolina?

11 South Carolina programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 10 of them also report federal debt.

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

11 programs report first-year pay
10 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 South Carolina criminal justice bachelor's program pays its graduates $34,447 in their first year, $3,194 less than the national median. Columbia College (South Carolina) reports the highest first-year pay ($50,519), and Bob Jones University the lowest median debt ($18,298).

Median first-year pay$34,447National $37,641

Median pay after 5 years$49,134National $53,142

Median federal debt$27,000National $26,000

Debt-to-earnings74%National 67%

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	Columbia College (South Carolina)Columbia · private nonprofit	$50,519	$60,613	$26,773	53%
2	Anderson University (South Carolina)Anderson · private nonprofit	$45,583	$49,990	$28,500	63%
3	Citadel Military College of South CarolinaCharleston · public	$45,235	$67,591	$24,966	55%
4	North Greenville UniversityTigerville · private nonprofit	$39,415	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
5	University of South CarolinaColumbia · public	$35,781	$49,134	$25,000	70%
6	USC UpstateSpartanburg · public	$34,447	$50,300	$27,000	78%
7	Charleston Southern UniversityCharleston · private nonprofit	$33,633	$44,413	$27,000	80%
8	South Carolina StateOrangeburg · public	$32,576	$45,814	$31,000	95%
9	Bob Jones UniversityGreenville · private nonprofit	$31,372	$58,864	$18,298	58%
10	Claflin UniversityOrangeburg · private nonprofit	$29,424	$38,694	$37,009	126%
11	Benedict CollegeColumbia · private nonprofit	$23,838	$42,829	$40,750	171%

North Greenville University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every South Carolina criminal justice program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 10 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Columbia College (South Carolina)$50,519
Anderson University (South Carolina)$45,583
Citadel Military College of South Carolina$45,235
North Greenville University$39,415
University of South Carolina$35,781

Lowest median debt

Bob Jones University$18,298
Citadel Military College of South Carolina$24,966
University of South Carolina$25,000
Columbia College (South Carolina)$26,773
USC Upstate$27,000

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

$35,460

Median pay in South Carolina. 16,610 people work in this job in South 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%: $27,420Top 10%: $48,850

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

$58,070

Median pay in South Carolina. 12,930 people work in this job in South 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%: $45,060Top 10%: $78,760

Compliance Officers

$75,460

Median pay in South Carolina. 4,760 people work in this job in South 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%: $44,990Top 10%: $133,820

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$51,800

Median pay in South Carolina. 5,520 people work in this job in South 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%: $38,530Top 10%: $77,390

Common questions

Columbia College (South Carolina) in Columbia reports the highest median first-year pay, $50,519. Its median federal debt is $26,773.

Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked557 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Associate's) programs in South Carolina, ranked6 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 South Carolina 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