Which Virginia criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

George Mason reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,761, with first-year pay of $43,612.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in Virginia?

The median across 15 Virginia criminal justice bachelor's programs is $39,404 in the first year after graduating and $54,773 five years after.

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

15 Virginia programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 15 of them also report federal debt.

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

15 programs report first-year pay
15 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 Virginia criminal justice bachelor's program pays its graduates $39,404 in their first year, $1,763 more than the national median. Liberty University reports the highest first-year pay ($48,855), and George Mason the lowest median debt ($20,761).

Median first-year pay$39,404National $37,641

Median pay after 5 years$54,773National $53,142

Median federal debt$25,810National $26,000

Debt-to-earnings68%National 67%

All 15 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	Liberty UniversityLynchburg · private nonprofit	$48,855	$58,274	$29,728	61%
2	Shenandoah UniversityWinchester · private nonprofit	$46,816	$58,666	$25,810	55%
3	Regent UniversityVirginia Beach · private nonprofit	$46,005	$61,409	$21,237	46%
4	George MasonFairfax · public	$43,612	$70,311	$20,761	48%
5	Averett UniversityDanville · private nonprofit	$43,494	$55,149	$29,703	68%
6	Ferrum CollegeFerrum · private nonprofit	$42,080	$50,305	$29,500	70%
7	Bluefield UniversityBluefield · private nonprofit	$41,005	$52,577	$24,250	59%
8	Virginia Wesleyan UniversityVirginia Beach · private nonprofit	$39,404	$50,388	$27,000	69%
9	VCURichmond · public	$38,495	$57,508	$23,250	60%
10	ECPI UniversityVirginia Beach · private for-profit	$36,287	$47,570	$29,903	82%
11	Longwood UniversityFarmville · public	$36,254	$56,178	$23,375	64%
12	Radford UniversityRadford · public	$35,935	$54,397	$25,000	70%
13	Marymount UniversityArlington · private nonprofit	$35,642	$69,951	$25,000	70%
14	Virginia StatePetersburg · public	$34,604	$46,108	$30,000	87%
15	Hampton UniversityHampton · private nonprofit	$31,335	$52,065	$27,000	86%

2 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 15 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

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

$43,640

Median pay in Virginia. 34,870 people work in this job in Virginia. 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%: $30,990Top 10%: $73,060

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

$65,870

Median pay in Virginia. 19,970 people work in this job in Virginia. 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%: $50,000Top 10%: $96,820

Compliance Officers

$80,380

Median pay in Virginia. 15,190 people work in this job in Virginia. 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%: $48,640Top 10%: $133,620

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$61,330

Median pay in Virginia. 9,410 people work in this job in Virginia. 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%: $45,060Top 10%: $95,360

Common questions

Liberty University in Lynchburg reports the highest median first-year pay, $48,855. Its median federal debt is $29,728.

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 Virginia 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