Criminal Justice and Corrections at Ivy Tech Community College

This program's earnings lag significantly behind other Indiana options—at $33,463 starting out, graduates earn about 28% less than the state median for similar certificates. That's concerning given that Indiana only has eight schools offering this credential, and Ivy Tech sits near the bottom of that limited field at the 25th percentile. For comparison, Purdue University Global's graduates in this field earn nearly $60,000, almost double what this program delivers.

The debt load of $17,237 might seem manageable compared to bachelor's degrees, but in the context of these earnings, it creates real financial strain. With a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.52, graduates are carrying debt equal to about half their annual income—and they're earning below typical living wages in many Indiana markets. The 13% earnings growth to $37,905 by year four helps, but doesn't close the gap with better-performing programs.

Important caveat: this data comes from fewer than 30 graduates, so individual outcomes could vary substantially. But even accounting for that uncertainty, the pattern is troubling. If your child is committed to criminal justice in Indiana, push them to explore why other state programs—particularly Purdue Global—deliver such dramatically different outcomes. At these earning levels, every dollar of debt matters, and starting behind the state median makes career building harder from day one.