Undergraduate certificate · Miami, Florida

Is Criminal Justice and Corrections at Miami Dade College worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 0.5 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $42,305; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $65,413; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $4,927; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $4k (likely $4k – $5k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $29k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in FL; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 0.5 years (likely 0.3–0.9); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $232k (likely $169k – $299k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $602k (likely $448k – $764k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 47%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26