Which Texas criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

UTRGV reports the lowest median federal debt, $11,644, with first-year pay of $32,899.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in Texas?

The median across 39 Texas criminal justice bachelor's programs is $35,740 in the first year after graduating and $51,123 five years after.

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

39 Texas programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 38 of them also report federal debt.

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

39 programs report first-year pay
38 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 Texas criminal justice bachelor's program pays its graduates $35,740 in their first year, $1,901 less than the national median. Wayland Baptist University reports the highest first-year pay ($53,038), and UTRGV the lowest median debt ($11,644).

Median first-year pay$35,740National $37,641

Median pay after 5 years$51,123National $53,142

Median federal debt$24,558National $26,000

Debt-to-earnings63%National 67%

All 39 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	Wayland Baptist UniversityPlainview · private nonprofit	$53,038	$54,933	$25,000	47%
2	Texas A&M-Central TexasKilleen · public	$45,976	$44,742	$24,750	54%
3	Texas Wesleyan UniversityFort Worth · private nonprofit	$44,328	Not reported	$26,000	59%
4	Lamar UniversityBeaumont · public	$43,707	$58,550	$31,000	71%
5	Tarleton StateStephenville · public	$43,186	$52,114	$23,250	54%
6	Texas Woman's UniversityDenton · public	$42,914	$53,576	$29,250	68%
7	UH-DowntownHouston · public	$42,122	$55,229	$22,757	54%
8	Midwestern StateWichita Falls · public	$40,719	$43,441	$25,668	63%
9	UT ArlingtonArlington · public	$40,577	$55,315	$19,908	49%
10	Stephen F. AustinNacogdoches · public	$40,308	$54,769	$23,250	58%
11	Hardin-Simmons UniversityAbilene · private nonprofit	$39,445	$56,944	$28,000	71%
12	UNTDenton · public	$39,267	$50,657	$20,538	52%
13	West Texas A&M UniversityCanyon · public	$37,978	$46,118	$24,365	64%
14	Sam Houston StateHuntsville · public	$37,792	$52,576	$23,218	61%
15	Texas A&M-Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi · public	$37,742	$48,532	$23,974	64%
16	Saint Edward's UniversityAustin · private nonprofit	$36,829	$59,686	$24,949	68%
17	UT TylerTyler · public	$36,532	$54,490	$20,212	55%
18	Texas StateSan Marcos · public	$36,117	$54,099	$19,500	54%
19	Angelo StateSan Angelo · public	$35,955	$57,770	$22,000	61%
20	UTSASan Antonio · public	$35,740	$53,745	$21,875	61%
21	Nelson UniversityWaxahachie · private nonprofit	$35,708	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
22	Texas A&M-VictoriaVictoria · public	$35,015	$48,224	$27,000	77%
23	TCUFort Worth · private nonprofit	$34,556	Not reported	$20,429	59%
24	East Texas Baptist UniversityMarshall · private nonprofit	$34,506	Not reported	$27,000	78%
25	Texas A&M-KingsvilleKingsville · public	$34,401	Not reported	$22,906	67%
26	Texas CollegeTyler · private nonprofit	$34,386	$33,470	$39,423	115%
27	East Texas A&M UniversityCommerce · public	$34,075	$43,657	$29,723	87%
28	UTEPEl Paso · public	$33,304	$49,048	$19,381	58%
29	Texas A&M-TexarkanaTexarkana · public	$32,971	Not reported	$20,500	62%
30	UTRGVEdinburg · public	$32,899	$50,935	$11,644	35%
31	University of the Incarnate WordSan Antonio · private nonprofit	$32,771	$52,804	$28,901	88%
32	Wiley UniversityMarshall · private nonprofit	$32,743	$36,725	$37,457	114%
33	Sul Ross StateAlpine · public	$32,033	Not reported	$18,999	59%
34	Prairie View A&M UniversityPrairie View · public	$31,823	$47,806	$26,750	84%
35	Remington College-Dallas CampusDallas · private nonprofit	$31,793	$35,238	$48,338	152%
36	Texas A&M International UniversityLaredo · public	$30,739	$50,535	$15,500	50%
37	St. Mary's UniversitySan Antonio · private nonprofit	$30,237	$45,608	$27,000	89%
38	Texas Southern UniversityHouston · public	$29,763	$52,298	$36,250	122%
39	Our Lady of the Lake UniversitySan Antonio · private nonprofit	$29,546	$42,014	$26,625	90%

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

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 38 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

UTRGV$11,644
Texas A&M International University$15,500
Sul Ross State$18,999
UTEP$19,381
Texas State$19,500

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

$35,980

Median pay in Texas. 106,210 people work in this job in Texas. 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%: $26,950Top 10%: $50,740

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

$75,900

Median pay in Texas. 63,100 people work in this job in Texas. 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%: $51,240Top 10%: $98,350

Compliance Officers

$75,370

Median pay in Texas. 42,900 people work in this job in Texas. 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%: $45,170Top 10%: $126,920

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$55,680

Median pay in Texas. 21,670 people work in this job in Texas. 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%: $37,230Top 10%: $73,670

Common questions

Wayland Baptist University in Plainview reports the highest median first-year pay, $53,038. Its median federal debt is $25,000.

Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked557 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Associate's) programs in Texas, ranked18 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Certificate) programs in Texas, ranked15 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 Texas 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