Criminal Justice and Corrections at Carrington College-San Leandro Campus

Carrington College's criminal justice certificate lands graduates at $30,217 their first year—about $18,000 below the national median but nearly identical to California's median of $29,940. That 60th percentile state ranking tells you this program performs slightly better than average among California schools, though the state itself appears to dramatically underperform the rest of the country in criminal justice graduate outcomes.

The debt picture raises red flags. At $8,045, graduates carry 90th percentile debt nationally—meaning most comparable programs elsewhere burden students with substantially more. But here's the problem: that "low" debt still represents about three months of gross income for these graduates, and the earnings trajectory in this field rarely justifies even modest borrowing. The stark gap between California's best performers (Santa Rosa JC graduates earn $111,649) and this program's outcomes suggests employer preferences or credential types matter enormously in this state's criminal justice market.

For a certificate that costs under $9,000, the math isn't catastrophic. But your child would be entering a field where California graduates consistently earn half what their national peers make, and this program won't position them among the state's competitive earners. If law enforcement or corrections is the goal, investigate whether those top-performing California community colleges offer pathways that better align with local hiring preferences.