Criminology at Maryville College

A debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.69 sounds reasonable on paper, but there's crucial context here: both figures are national estimates because Maryville's graduate sample was too small for the Department of Education to publish actual outcomes. Based on what peer criminology programs typically produce nationwide—around $37,500 in first-year earnings against roughly $26,000 in debt—graduates would need about 8 months of gross income to clear their educational debt. That's manageable if the estimates hold true for Maryville's graduates, but there's no way to verify whether this program actually delivers comparable results.

The challenge with criminology degrees at any school is the field itself: criminal justice careers often start at relatively modest salaries, and comparable programs nationwide cluster tightly around $37,500-$40,500 in early earnings. With only three schools offering this major in Tennessee and none reporting verifiable outcomes data, you're essentially betting that Maryville's program performs at the national average. The college's 35% Pell grant population and 66% admission rate suggest it serves a broad student base, but without actual graduate outcomes, you're making an investment decision based on what similar programs elsewhere achieve rather than what this specific program delivers.