Criminal Justice and Corrections at Dawson Community College

A debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.32 suggests manageable financial risk for this certificate program, though parents should recognize they're working with limited visibility. Both the earnings estimate of $48,000 and debt figure of $15,400 come from national peer programs rather than Dawson's own graduates—the college's criminal justice certificate cohort is too small for the Department of Education to publish actual outcomes.

What we can say is that comparable certificate programs nationally produce first-year earnings around $48,000, which would make a $15,400 debt load reasonable by traditional measures. Montana's law enforcement and corrections sector tends toward local hiring patterns, so your child's job prospects will depend heavily on openings in rural eastern Montana rather than following predictable national trends. The certificate's short completion timeline limits total borrowing, which is important given that criminal justice careers often start at modest salaries with advancement coming through years of service rather than quick earnings growth.

For a family considering this program, the key question isn't whether the numbers look reasonable on paper—they do, at least relative to peer programs—but whether criminal justice work in rural Montana aligns with your child's long-term plans. Contact Dawson directly about their recent graduates' actual placement outcomes and typical starting positions, since the suppressed federal data leaves you flying blind on this program's specific track record.