Criminology at Notre Dame of Maryland University

A criminology degree typically opens doors to law enforcement, corrections, and social services—fields where starting salaries rarely dazzle. Based on similar bachelor's programs nationally, graduates from Notre Dame of Maryland's criminology program can expect around $37,000 in first-year earnings, which falls notably short of the $43,000+ that other Maryland criminology programs report. That $6,000 gap matters when you're carrying an estimated $26,000 in debt, though the debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.69 suggests the loan burden remains manageable with disciplined repayment.

The real question is whether this program can match the outcomes of University of Maryland-College Park or Mount St. Mary's, both of which place graduates above $43,000. Without actual data from Notre Dame's program, you're essentially betting that their outcomes mirror the national average rather than their in-state competitors' stronger performance. For a school with an 86% admission rate serving a substantial population of Pell recipients, that's not an unreasonable assumption—but it's still a gamble.

Before committing, get specific placement data directly from the school: where do their criminology graduates actually work, and what do they earn? If Notre Dame can demonstrate outcomes closer to the Maryland median rather than the national one, this becomes a straightforward investment. If they can't produce those numbers, you're paying private school tuition for outcomes you could likely achieve more affordably elsewhere.