Criminal Justice and Corrections at Western Dakota Technical College

Western Dakota Technical College's Criminal Justice program starts weak but transforms dramatically—graduates earn just $27,459 initially, barely above minimum wage, but see a remarkable 66% income jump to $45,499 by year four. That trajectory matters, yet the starting point is deeply concerning: this program ranks in the bottom 10% of South Dakota criminal justice programs, with first-year earnings nearly $14,000 below the state median of $41,230. When neighboring Lake Area Technical College's graduates start at $41,230 and Southeast Technical's at nearly $50,000, the gap is hard to ignore.

The $18,000 debt load is reasonable—lower than national averages—but paired with that anemic starting salary, your child will be working with a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.66 in their first year. The fourth-year earnings recovery helps, but here's the practical reality: those first years of struggling to pay rent and manage loan payments while earning $13,000 less than peers at other South Dakota schools can derail financial stability early.

If your child is set on this field and committed to Western Dakota for location or other reasons, understand they're signing up for a rough financial start that eventually improves. But with multiple higher-performing technical colleges in South Dakota offering the same degree and much stronger initial earnings, this program needs a compelling non-financial reason to justify choosing it over those alternatives.