College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice

NYLarge public institution · Overall rank #37 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Affordability that ranks #10 in the nation.

Who it’s a good fit for

CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice is a public university in New York whose degree mix is led by Security & Protective Services. Affordability is among the highest we track.

The fit is clearest for a student drawn to Security & Protective Services in New York and expects to work after the degree. Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them, even though the typical graduate earns below the median at comparable schools.

The model attributes the gain to the factors it measures, while the remainder it cannot explain subtracts from it. Return is above average.

Students who arrive with Pell Grants finish within a few points of the rate for the entering cohort as a whole, and mobility is among the highest we track. Aid recipients in the lowest income band pay well below the published cost.

Those in the highest band pay closer to it. The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools.

A student should know that the largest programs are not the highest-earning ones, and that most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than on to further study.

John Jay College at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
57.1%
Six-year completion[2]
55.8%
Four-year earnings[3]
$60,020

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$6,760
Median student debt[4]
$11,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$16,130

John Jay College rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice is a public university in New York, New York, enrolling 11,590 undergraduates. Its composite standing sits near the top of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (98th percentile).

The shape is a selective public campus where affordability and access are the strongest , and return is the weakest. The university admits 57.1% of applicants, a rate well below the 78.1% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size.

Of students who start full time, 81.6% return for a second year, against a peer median—the typical rate for similar institutions—of 83.1%. The six-year graduation rate is 55.8%, compared to a peer median of 65.0%.

An estimated 40.2% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students. The four pillars sit far apart.

Affordability is the strongest (99th percentile), and access is close behind (99th percentile). Mobility is also strong (96th percentile). Return is the weakest of the four (57th percentile).

Affordability is the strongest pillar for CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice, at the 99th percentile, and access is close behind at the 99th percentile. Mobility also sits high, at the 96th percentile.

Return is the weakest of the four pillars, at the 57th percentile. Azimuth ranks the university #37 among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions.

59.8% of undergraduates at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice receive Pell Grants, a measure of financial access in New York. Among enrolled students who submitted SAT scores, the 25th to 75th percentile of those scores stretched from 930 to 1,220 for the enrolled group.

Azimuth ranks CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice #21 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions, a pillar that measures financial reach. Students receiving Pell Grants finish at 52.2%, a level that runs 3.6 percentage points below the six-year graduation rate for the entering cohort as a whole at this university.

Azimuth ranks the university #53 for the mobility pillar among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $4,864 more than the model expects for similar students, a result measured four years after their completion.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

John Jay College rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#37

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 96
Access & reach
National percentile: 99
Affordability
National percentile: 99
Return on investment
National percentile: 57

Top-ranked majors

  1. Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology#4
  2. Security Science and Technology#5
  3. Criminal Justice and Corrections#6

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / John Jay College briefing

John Jay College cost & financial aid[6][7]

The published cost of attendance at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice is $14,212, with in-state tuition and fees of $7,470 and out-of-state tuition and fees of $15,420. For aid recipients, the average net price—what students pay after grants and scholarships—is $3,203.

That is $12,431 below the $15,634 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Azimuth ranks the university #10 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the affordability pillar in the 99th percentile.

CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice publishes a cost of attendance of $14,212. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $1,073.

The for families in the $48,001–$75,000 band is $6,760, and for families earning over $110,000 it is $13,292. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $12,219.

Azimuth ranks CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice #10 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. Financial aid reduces the sticker price by an average of $11,009, bringing the average net price across all aid recipients to $3,203.

That figure is below the peer median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $12,431. In-state tuition and fees are $7,470, and out-of-state students face a published tuition of $15,420.

Median federal student debt at completion is $11,000. The median debt is below the peer median of $20,076 for comparable institutions by $9,076.

About 22.2% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. Median Parent PLUS borrowing stands at $16,130.

If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment for the median federal debt is $125.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$6,760

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at John Jay College

Only 22.2% of federal aid recipients at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice borrow through federal student loans. Among completers who did borrow, median federal debt at completion is $11,000.

Against the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size), the institution's median is below by $9,076. Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population distinct from students, carries a median of $16,130.

Four years after completing a degree at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice, graduates working and not enrolled earn a median of $60,020. That figure sits in the 51st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $4,864 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome in the 71st percentile nationally. Earnings scenarios anchored on the university's program mix show a typical earnings level of $60,020, with a downside scenario of $55,672 and an upside scenario of $71,925.

Borrowers who complete a degree carry a median federal student debt of $11,000, a figure below the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate population of parent borrowers, carries a median of $16,130.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $16,130. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $125.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$11,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$16,130

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$125/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$205/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / John Jay College briefing

John Jay College career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Graduates earn about $4,864 more than the model expects for similar students. That puts the gap at the 71st percentile.

Azimuth places the university at the 57th percentile for return. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds $5,662.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $798. Within the measured factors, the STEM component subtracts $247.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $60,020, at the 51st percentile. That is $5,590 below the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Four years after completing a bachelor's degree at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the median earnings of federally aided completers stand at $60,020. That figure is below the $65,610 median at comparable institutions (same type and size) by $5,590.

The four-year earnings cohort includes 3,765 completers. Graduates earn about $4,864 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that ranks in the 71st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios anchored on the college's program mix point to a typical outcome of $60,020, a downside scenario of $55,672, and an upside scenario of $71,925. An estimated 27.5% of programs' graduates continue to graduate study, a figure derived from the program mix.

Four years after completion, the median earnings of CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice graduates stand at $60,020. That figure is below the peer median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $5,590.

Graduates earn about $4,864 more than the model expects for similar students, placing the college in the 71st percentile for this measure. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $5,662.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $798. Within the measured factors, the STEM component subtracts $247.

Azimuth ranks the university #628 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show a downside of $55,672 and an upside of $71,925.

The largest program, Criminal Justice, awarded 1,601 degrees and shows median earnings of $59,343 four years after completion, earning it an Azimuth national rank of #6 within its field. The highest-earning program is Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management, where graduates earn a median of $96,069 from 197 degrees awarded.

The university also fields a high-return program in English Language and Literature, which ranks #50 nationally and posts a benchmark of 1.17x against the national median for its field.

Earnings at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice depend heavily on the field a student chooses. The earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, range from $55,672 on the downside to $71,925 on the upside, with $60,020 as the typical scenario.

The highest-earning program is Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management, where graduates earn a median of $96,069 four years after completion. Philosophy and Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences follow, at $78,041 and $77,144 respectively.

The largest program, Criminal Justice, awards 1,601 degrees a year and reports median earnings of $59,343, close to the typical scenario.

Graduates earn about $4,864 more than the model expects for similar students. The median federal student debt for borrowers who complete a degree is $11,000, which is below the peer median of $20,076 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment on that debt is $125. Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate population, carry a median of $16,130.

The average net price at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice is $3,203, below the peer median of $15,634. For aid recipients from families earning under $30,000, the average net price drops to $1,073, and the spread between the lowest and highest income bands is $12,219.

Aid covers about 77% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. These debt and net-price figures coincide with earnings that exceed the model's expectation.

The combination of below-peer debt and above-expectation earnings means the financial commitment is modest relative to the earnings outcome.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$5,662
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$798
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$4,864

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / John Jay College briefing

John Jay College acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice admits 57.1% of applicants, a rate that sits well below the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
57.1%
Approximate lower endpoint
930
Reported average
1080
Approximate upper endpoint
1220

Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff. The endpoints add section percentiles; they are not verified composite-score percentiles. A separate SAT-equivalent average is not plotted as a median. Source: College Scorecard; sum of section 25th/75th percentiles; enrolled score-submitters.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / John Jay College briefing

What are the largest majors at John Jay College?[12]

CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice concentrates its bachelor's degrees in Security & Protective Services, which accounts for 53.4% of awards, and Psychology, at 14.8%. Within those families, Azimuth ranks two programs nationally.

Criminal Justice is the largest, with 1,601 degrees awarded, a median of $59,343 four years after completion, and an Azimuth national rank of #6. Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology awards 499 degrees, earns $55,595, and holds a national rank of #4.

The highest-earning program is Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management, where completers reach $96,069 with 197 degrees awarded. Criminology and Security Science and Technology sit in a moderate band, at $57,396 and $60,416 respectively, on 239 and 160 degrees awarded.

CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice has 10 nationally ranked bachelor's programs and earnings data for 15 programs. The largest, Criminal Justice, awarded 1,601 degrees and ranks #6 nationally and #1 in New York, with a median of $59,343 four years after completion.

Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management awarded 197 degrees and shows the highest median among the largest programs at $96,069. Criminology awarded 239 degrees, and Security Science and Technology awarded 160 degrees with a median of $60,416.

CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice awards bachelor's degrees across 15 programs with published four-year earnings data, and 10 hold an Azimuth national rank. The program mix is concentrated: Security & Protective Services accounts for 53.4% of degrees awarded, with Psychology at 14.8% and Social Sciences at 13.0%.

The largest single program is Criminal Justice, at 1,601 degrees awarded, followed by Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology at 499 degrees awarded and Criminology at 239 degrees awarded. Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology is the highest-ranked program, with median earnings of $55,595 four years after completion.

Azimuth ranks it #3 in New York within its field. The program carries a benchmark ratio of 1.10x against the national median for its field.

Criminal Justice, the largest program, ranks #6 nationally within its field and #1 in New York, with median earnings of $59,343. The highest-earning program is Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management, at $96,069 from 197 degrees awarded.

Philosophy follows at $78,041, from a much smaller cohort of 22 degrees awarded. The largest programs are also the ones with the strongest national ranks, so the college's scale and its competitive position sit in the same fields.

Earnings vary widely by field, with the highest-paid program earning roughly one and a half times the median of the largest. Across all fields, 8.5% of degrees are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Criminal Justice and Corrections 1,601 degrees awarded
$59,343
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology 499 degrees awarded
$55,595
Criminology 239 degrees awarded
$57,396
Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management 197 degrees awarded
$96,069
Security Science and Technology 160 degrees awarded
$60,416
Non-Professional Legal Studies 144 degrees awarded
$57,073

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / John Jay College briefing

How does John Jay College serve students from different backgrounds?

For mobility, CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice sits in the 96th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The college enrolls 11,590 undergraduates, and the estimated share of entrants outside the first-time, full-time group is 40.2%.

Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort complete at 52.2%, below the overall six-year graduation rate of 55.8% by 3.6 percentage points. That overall rate sits below the peer median six-year completion of 65.0%.

Graduates earn about $4,864 more than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 71st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Azimuth places the access pillar of CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The public university admits 57.1% of applicants, well below the peer median of 78.1%, and enrolls 11,590 undergraduates.

Pell Grant recipients account for 59.8% of the undergraduate body, and an estimated 40.2% arrive as transfers or part-time students.

06 / John Jay College briefing

What colleges are similar to John Jay College?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with John Jay College.

Admissions peerCUNY Queens College64.4% admitted
Comparison with John Jay College
MeasureJohn Jay CollegeCUNY Queens College
Peer earnings · 4 years$60,020$68,713+$8,693 vs John Jay College
Average annual net price$3,203$4,195+$992 vs John Jay College · higher cost
Admission rate57.1%64.4%
Explore CUNY Queens College →
Higher-admission alternativeSt. Thomas Aquinas College93.1% admitted
Comparison with John Jay College
MeasureJohn Jay CollegeSt. Thomas Aquinas College
Peer earnings · 4 years$60,020$60,309+$289 vs John Jay College
Average annual net price$3,203$19,994+$16,791 vs John Jay College · higher cost
Admission rate57.1%93.1%
Nearby alternativeUniversity of New HavenNearby option · CT
Comparison with John Jay College
MeasureJohn Jay CollegeUniversity of New Haven
Peer earnings · 4 years$60,020$65,164+$5,144 vs John Jay College
Average annual net price$3,203$34,192+$30,989 vs John Jay College · higher cost
Admission rate57.1%60.4%
Explore University of New Haven →
Higher-earnings alternativeCUNY Bernard M Baruch College$82,748 earnings
Comparison with John Jay College
MeasureJohn Jay CollegeCUNY Bernard M Baruch College
Peer earnings · 4 years$60,020$82,748+$22,728 vs John Jay College
Average annual net price$3,203$3,033-$170 vs John Jay College · lower cost
Admission rate57.1%47.5%
Explore CUNY Bernard M Baruch College →
Similar profileKean UniversityMatched across several measures
Comparison with John Jay College
MeasureJohn Jay CollegeKean University
Peer earnings · 4 years$60,020$59,472-$548 vs John Jay College
Average annual net price$3,203$12,447+$9,244 vs John Jay College · higher cost
Admission rate57.1%75.9%
Explore Kean University →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings