Undergraduate certificate · Oroville, California

Is Criminal Justice and Corrections at Butte College worth it?

High confidence High confidence: 100+ 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 0.2 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $79,025; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $88,838; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: Not enough borrowers to report; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $5k (likely $5k – $7k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $49k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in CA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 0.2 years (likely 0.1–0.2); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $446k (likely $375k – $527k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $1.04M (likely $855k – $1.24M); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 46%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26