Master's · Columbia, South Carolina

Is Criminal Justice and Corrections at South University-Columbia 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 slowly: graduates typically recover the cost in about 19.2 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $45,069; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $60,097; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $51,614; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published): $55k (likely $55k – $55k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $3k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out in SC; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 19.2 years (likely 10.4–20+); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$202k (likely −$275k – −$124k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: −$124k (likely −$292k – $58k); Today's dollars
Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in: ≤ 20% / ≤ 20%; NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20

Scorecard reports no net price for graduate programs; cost is based on what graduates typically borrowed.