Criminal Justice and Corrections at Madison Area Technical College

Madison Area Technical College's criminal justice program lands in an interesting position: it significantly outperforms most programs nationally while sitting near the middle of the pack in Wisconsin. At $39,174 in first-year earnings, graduates earn nearly $6,000 more than the national median, placing this program in the 77th percentile nationally. However, Wisconsin has particularly strong criminal justice programs across its technical college system, and Madison's outcomes barely edge above the state median of $39,298.

The debt picture is manageable at $13,750, creating a 0.35 debt-to-earnings ratio that most graduates should be able to handle comfortably. Within Wisconsin, though, several technical colleges deliver substantially higher earnings—Southwest Wisconsin and Rasmussen grads earn $12,000-$8,000 more annually. That earnings gap could translate to significantly faster debt payoff and better long-term financial stability, especially if your student is geographically flexible.

For students already living in the Madison area or committed to staying local for personal reasons, this program offers solid value with reasonable debt and earnings that support independent living. But if location is negotiable, exploring the top-performing Wisconsin technical colleges could yield meaningfully better returns on the same time investment and comparable tuition costs.