Which Tennessee criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

UT Martin reports the lowest median federal debt, $22,671, with first-year pay of $32,167.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in Tennessee?

The median across 11 Tennessee criminal justice bachelor's programs is $35,917 in the first year after graduating and $47,846 five years after.

How many criminal justice bachelor's programs are in Tennessee?

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

Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) Programs in Tennessee, 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 Tennessee criminal justice bachelor's program pays its graduates $35,917 in their first year, $1,724 less than the national median. Bethel University (Tennessee) reports the highest first-year pay ($54,207), and UT Martin the lowest median debt ($22,671).

Median first-year pay$35,917National $37,641

Median pay after 5 years$47,846National $53,142

Median federal debt$25,612National $26,000

Debt-to-earnings70%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	Bethel University (Tennessee)McKenzie · private nonprofit	$54,207	$58,019	$31,250	58%
2	Cumberland UniversityLebanon · private nonprofit	$45,223	$57,377	Not reported	Not reported
3	Middle Tennessee StateMurfreesboro · public	$37,952	$52,140	$24,093	63%
4	UT ChattanoogaChattanooga · public	$37,403	$47,664	$22,995	61%
5	Austin PeayClarksville · public	$36,749	$53,438	$25,281	69%
6	Lane CollegeJackson · private nonprofit	$35,917	Not reported	$38,680	108%
7	University of MemphisMemphis · public	$35,900	$49,589	$27,000	75%
8	King UniversityBristol · private nonprofit	$33,580	Not reported	$22,702	68%
9	Tennessee StateNashville · public	$32,555	$48,027	$28,001	86%
10	UT MartinMartin · public	$32,167	$43,797	$22,671	70%
11	East Tennessee StateJohnson City · public	$30,097	$43,784	$25,942	86%

Cumberland University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

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

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

Bethel University (Tennessee)$54,207
Cumberland University$45,223
Middle Tennessee State$37,952
UT Chattanooga$37,403
Austin Peay$36,749

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

$36,000

Median pay in Tennessee. 27,690 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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%: $29,310Top 10%: $51,680

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

$59,280

Median pay in Tennessee. 15,630 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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%: $43,520Top 10%: $79,480

Compliance Officers

$63,960

Median pay in Tennessee. 7,990 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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%: $41,460Top 10%: $117,250

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$56,310

Median pay in Tennessee. 7,870 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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%: $39,650Top 10%: $77,230

Common questions

Bethel University (Tennessee) in McKenzie reports the highest median first-year pay, $54,207. Its median federal debt is $31,250.

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 Tennessee 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