Criminal Justice and Corrections at University of Richmond

At $27,000 in estimated debt for first-year earnings around $39,400, this program sits right at Virginia's median for criminal justice degrees—but that context matters less than what these peer-program figures suggest about fit. University of Richmond is a highly selective liberal arts institution (23% admission rate, 1474 average SAT) where the majority of students come from families who don't qualify for Pell grants. Criminal justice careers typically start in the mid-to-high $30,000s regardless of where you earned your degree, and several Virginia programs with actual reported data show graduates earning in the mid-$40,000s—suggesting the field rewards experience and certification more than institutional prestige.

The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.69 isn't alarming on its face, but it warrants scrutiny when you're paying private school tuition for a career path where public universities produce comparable or better outcomes. If your child is genuinely drawn to criminal justice work—not just exploring it as one option among many—Richmond's smaller classes and liberal arts foundation could be valuable. But if they're uncertain about the field or gravitating toward it as a "default," the financial cushion of a lower-cost program would give them more room to pivot. The salary ceiling in this field makes borrowing decisions now particularly consequential.