Which Wisconsin criminal justice program has the lowest debt?

UW-Parkside reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,745, with first-year pay of $42,342.

How much do criminal justice graduates earn in Wisconsin?

The median across 10 Wisconsin criminal justice bachelor's programs is $41,393 in the first year after graduating and $57,315 five years after.

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

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

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

10 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 Wisconsin criminal justice bachelor's program pays its graduates $41,393 in their first year, $3,752 more than the national median. Herzing University-Madison reports the highest first-year pay ($67,229), and UW-Parkside the lowest median debt ($20,745).

Median first-year pay$41,393National $37,641

Median pay after 5 years$57,315National $53,142

Median federal debt$25,945National $26,000

Debt-to-earnings63%National 67%

All 10 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	Herzing University-MadisonMadison · private nonprofit	$67,229	$63,953	$28,399	42%
2	UW-ParksideKenosha · public	$42,342	$50,384	$20,745	49%
3	UW-SuperiorSuperior · public	$42,295	Not reported	$26,175	62%
4	UW-PlattevillePlatteville · public	$41,636	$57,550	$25,000	60%
5	Concordia University-WisconsinMequon · private nonprofit	$41,527	$56,665	$27,000	65%
6	UW-Eau ClaireEau Claire · public	$41,258	$54,413	$21,500	52%
7	Carthage CollegeKenosha · private nonprofit	$39,551	$53,909	$27,000	68%
8	UW-OshkoshOshkosh · public	$39,394	$64,948	$25,000	63%
9	UW-MilwaukeeMilwaukee · public	$38,640	$57,315	$25,715	67%
10	Carroll UniversityWaukesha · private nonprofit	$38,101	$47,956	$27,000	71%

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

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

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

$37,440

Median pay in Wisconsin. 12,030 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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%: $30,410Top 10%: $54,680

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

$78,090

Median pay in Wisconsin. 12,320 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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%: $58,530Top 10%: $94,450

Compliance Officers

$78,800

Median pay in Wisconsin. 5,710 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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%: $56,010Top 10%: $125,160

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$59,280

Median pay in Wisconsin. 5,710 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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%: $44,400Top 10%: $80,900

Common questions

Herzing University-Madison in Madison reports the highest median first-year pay, $67,229. Its median federal debt is $28,399.

Criminal Justice (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked557 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Associate's) programs in Wisconsin, ranked12 programs by pay and debt Criminal Justice (Certificate) programs in Wisconsin, ranked8 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 Wisconsin 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