College profile
John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY)
Listed in federal data as “CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice”.
NY · Public · Large city · 17,921 applicants 2023
A parent's read
- The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 10× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$14,212/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$56,195/yr) still runs about 10× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)
- Ask the submit question deliberately. This college is test-optional — but at many such colleges, applicants who submit strong scores are admitted at meaningfully higher rates. “Optional” is a strategy decision, not a pass.
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
Parent/student verdict
Moderately selectiveSolid match for academically prepared students. Affordable — net price averages ~$3,203/yr among aid recipients. Major value play for in-state residents.
Best for
- In-state residents (tuition ~$7,470 — major value play)
- Students focused on Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, & Firefighting (the school's signature program)
The reality
- You'd be near the bottom of their admitted class if: SAT below 1000 (test bands are the school's own; the GPA floor is our estimate, not a published figure)
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price with aid and at full price, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
What are your child's odds here?
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Weighted is the higher GPA, with honors/AP credit in it — pick whichever your school reports. PSAT scores work in the SAT box.
Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
5% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score — this range describes students who submitted, not the whole class.
Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.
Outcomes & cost
What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.
Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).
The real cost
What John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY) actually costs
Which side your family lands on isn't set by any national income line — it's set by John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY)'s own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.
Your odds + estimated cost across your whole college list, side by side.
The payoffTen years of typical graduate pay minus four years of cost — how many dollars ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten. Check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you; median pay reflects who a college admits and what they study as much as the college itself., both ways
+$505K ahead at full price +$549K with aidSource: College Scorecard (average net price among Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates who received aid) and each college's published cost of attendance. We don't show the federal net-price-by-income brackets: their categories were fixed in 2008 and never adjusted, and none of the averages is your family's own number — the full story. Payoff = (10-yr median earnings × 10) − (4 years of cost), in dollars — how far ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten; medians travel with the students a college admits and the majors they choose as much as with the college itself. Full price is the published cost of attendance, largely in-state for publics; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.
What students study here
Most popular majors at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY)
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY) actually graduates — not just what it markets.
What those majors earn here
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY)'s own graduates, not national averages.
| Major (CIP) | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|
| Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management. | $96,069 |
| Philosophy. | $78,041 |
| Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences. | $77,144 |
| Fire Protection. | $72,228 |
| Physical Sciences, General. | $68,781 |
| Public Administration. | $66,834 |
| Political Science and Government. | $62,150 |
| Security Science and Technology. | $60,416 |
| Criminal Justice and Corrections. | $59,343 |
| Criminology. | $57,396 |
Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →
Student body & economic mobility
Who attends here — and what the campus adds.
Opportunity Insights data. It measures two things at once: how many lower-income students a college enrols, and how many of them reach the top earnings quintile later. A high rate says the college does both — it does not establish that the campus caused the earnings, because the students it admits differ from the students it doesn't. Read it as a signal about access and destination, not as proof of value added.
Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →
Alternatives to John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY)
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At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantJohn Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY) is a public four-year college in NY. It admitted 57% of applicants (17,921 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: SAT 1000–1250. 5% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score — this range describes students who submitted, not the whole class.
Cost: about $3,203 a year on average with aid, $14,212 a year at full price for in-state students.
Median earnings ten years after entry: $56,195 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $549,138 ahead with aid, $505,102 ahead at full price.
Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management ($96,069); Philosophy ($78,041); Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences ($77,144).
Economic mobility (Opportunity Insights): 27% of students came from families in the bottom fifth of income, and 36% of those reached the top fifth as adults.
Machine-readable version of this page: https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/cuny-john-jay-college-of-criminal-justice.json