Is Springfield College-Regional, Online, and Continuing Education Worth It?

Springfield College-Regional, Online, and Continuing Education gives you a weak financial return. Median earnings ten years out sit near $48,000, and both bachelor's programs with reported data land well below that. Criminal Justice and Corrections graduates earn around $36,000 a year, and Community Organization and Advocacy graduates earn even less. Both fields draw you into public-sector and nonprofit work, where salaries stay flat and the Massachusetts job market won't push them much higher.

Your debt is the problem here. You carry a median of about $26,000, which is more than what either reported bachelor's program pays in a single year. When your debt roughly matches your annual starting pay, the loans take a long time to clear, and the low salary ceilings in criminal justice and community advocacy mean you won't grow your way out of it quickly.

This school fits you if you already know you want a corrections, social service, or advocacy career and you're committed to that path regardless of pay. It works better if you're a working adult using continuing education to move up in a job you already hold, since you may not be borrowing the full median. If you're a traditional student borrowing at that $26,000 level to enter these low-paying fields, the math works against you, and you should look at programs with stronger earnings.

On net price, the difference by income is large. If your family income is low, grants can cut your out-of-pocket cost sharply, and roughly 56% of students here get Pell aid. If you're a middle- or higher-income family paying closer to full price, the return on these two programs is hard to justify given what they pay after graduation.