Which state pays health sciences associate's graduates the most?

New Jersey, where the median program pays its graduates $34,545 in their first year, the highest of 2 state rankings. New York is next, at $29,276.

Which health sciences associate's program pays the most?

University of Mount Olive in North Carolina reports the highest first-year pay of the 40 programs ranked here, $69,449. Its median federal debt is $31,838.

How much debt do health sciences associate's graduates have?

The median program leaves its graduates with $12,983 in federal debt. Across programs, the median debt is 41% of first-year pay.

Highest-Paying Health Sciences (Associate's) Programs in the US

40 programs report first-year pay
2 state rankings
Associate's in Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median health sciences associate's program in the US pays its graduates $33,625 in their first year and $47,967 five years after. New Jersey has the highest state median ($34,545), and New York the lowest ($29,276). The median program leaves its graduates with $12,983 in federal debt.

Median first-year pay$33,625Across 40 programs

Median pay after 5 years$47,967Across 34 programs

Median federal debt$12,983Across 54 programs

Debt-to-earnings41%Across 40 programs

All 40 programs, ranked by graduate pay

Each program is ranked by the median pay of its graduates one year after they finished, from College Scorecard. This measures what graduates earn, not how good the teaching is. Pay also depends on where graduates live and work. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	After cost of living	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	University of Mount OliveMount Olive, NC · private nonprofit	$69,449	$73,627	$67,853	$31,838	46%
2	Mercy College of OhioToledo, OH · private nonprofit	$66,917	Not adjusted	Not reported	$38,000	57%
3	Northern Essex Community CollegeHaverhill, MA · public	$50,389	Not adjusted	$35,662	$9,190	18%
4	North Country Community CollegeSaranac Lake, NY · public	$50,293	$46,602	Not reported	$17,110	34%
5	Excelsior UniversityAlbany, NY · private nonprofit	$48,290	Not adjusted	Not reported	$22,810	47%
6	Los Angeles Pacific UniversityGlendora, CA · private nonprofit	$46,353	$41,865	Not reported	$35,105	76%
7	Roxbury Community CollegeRoxbury Crossing, MA · public	$45,769	$43,278	$64,708	$9,080	20%
8	Jefferson Community and Technical CollegeLouisville, KY · public	$43,563	$48,318	Not reported	$17,985	41%
9	UCNJ Union College of Union County New JerseyCranford, NJ · public	$41,512	$38,153	Not reported	$12,241	29%
10	Central Lakes College-BrainerdBrainerd, MN · public	$41,201	Not adjusted	Not reported	$19,550	47%
11	Salt Lake Community CollegeSalt Lake City, UT · public	$40,593	$41,059	$64,034	$11,750	29%
12	University of the Incarnate WordSan Antonio, TX · private nonprofit	$40,386	Not adjusted	Not reported	$11,000	27%
13	Southern Maine Community CollegeSouth Portland, ME · public	$39,347	$40,543	Not reported	$15,750	40%
14	Berkeley College-Woodland ParkWoodland Park, NJ · private for-profit	$39,059	$35,898	$32,296	$16,909	43%
15	Purdue GlobalWest Lafayette, IN · public	$38,804	Not adjusted	Not reported	$5,967	15%
16	Carrington College-Phoenix NorthPhoenix, AZ · private for-profit	$36,999	Not adjusted	Not reported	$15,859	43%
17	Holyoke Community CollegeHolyoke, MA · public	$36,709	$34,711	Not reported	$11,930	32%
18	NHTI-Concord's Community CollegeConcord, NH · public	$36,053	Not adjusted	$45,209	$17,500	49%
19	Hudson County Community CollegeJersey City, NJ · public	$34,545	$31,749	$45,621	$10,587	31%
20	Delaware County Community CollegeMedia, PA · public	$34,452	$35,309	$46,836	$13,364	39%
21	Charter CollegeAnchorage, AK · private for-profit	$32,798	$32,042	$41,721	$21,418	65%
22	Pacific Union CollegeAngwin, CA · private nonprofit	$32,726	Not adjusted	$70,762	$27,000	83%
23	Fulton-Montgomery Community CollegeJohnstown, NY · public	$32,441	$30,060	Not reported	$14,160	44%
24	Laramie County Community CollegeCheyenne, WY · public	$31,908	Not adjusted	Not reported	$12,992	41%
25	Community College of PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia, PA · public	$31,447	$32,230	Not reported	$13,313	42%
26	Bucks County Community CollegeNewtown, PA · public	$30,849	$31,617	Not reported	$12,000	39%
27	West Kentucky Community and Technical CollegePaducah, KY · public	$30,159	$33,451	$33,019	$8,500	28%
28	Carrington College-SacramentoSacramento, CA · private for-profit	$29,853	$26,963	Not reported	$15,888	53%
29	Weber StateOgden, UT · public	$29,674	$30,015	$67,473	$11,870	40%
30	Middlesex CollegeEdison, NJ · public	$29,265	$26,897	$54,131	$6,750	23%
31	Paris Junior CollegeParis, TX · public	$28,979	$29,858	Not reported	$9,086	31%
32	Central New Mexico Community CollegeAlbuquerque, NM · public	$28,933	$31,377	$50,448	$8,553	30%
33	Rowan College of South Jersey-Gloucester CampusSewell, NJ · public	$28,709	$26,386	$41,012	$15,195	53%
34	Cameron UniversityLawton, OK · public	$27,434	$31,231	$50,427	$19,396	71%
35	Butler Community CollegeEl Dorado, KS · public	$27,114	$30,104	Not reported	$13,356	49%
36	Queensborough Community CollegeBayside, NY · public	$26,111	$24,195	$50,988	$7,000	27%
37	SUNY Broome Community CollegeBinghamton, NY · public	$25,232	$23,380	Not reported	$12,000	48%
38	Carl Albert State CollegePoteau, OK · public	$25,131	$28,609	$36,410	$10,738	43%
39	BMCCNew York, NY · public	$22,909	$21,228	Not reported	$6,442	28%
40	Ashland Community and Technical CollegeAshland, KY · public	$22,631	Not adjusted	Not reported	$11,062	49%

Pay after cost of living divides first-year pay by the Bureau of Economic Analysis price level of the school's state, where the US average is 100. It is shown for 29 programs where at least half of the graduates who work are working in the school's state. The other 11, whose graduates mostly work in other states or whose state has no price level, are listed last when you sort by it.

College Scorecard withholds pay for programs with too few graduates, to protect their privacy, so those programs can't be ranked.

Health Sciences (Associate's) programs by state

Each row is the median across the state's health sciences associate's programs. State names link to the full ranking of that state's programs.

State	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
New Jersey	5	$34,545	$11,414
New York	6	$29,276	$14,843

Programs in 18 more states and territories report pay, but too few to rank. A state ranking needs at least five programs that report both pay and debt.

Quick picks nationwide

Lowest median debt

BMCC, NY$6,442
Middlesex College, NJ$6,750
Queensborough Community College, NY$7,000
Hudson County Community College, NJ$10,587
SUNY Broome Community College, NY$12,000
UCNJ Union College of Union County New Jersey, NJ$12,241
Fulton-Montgomery Community College, NY$14,160
Rowan College of South Jersey-Gloucester Campus, NJ$15,195
Berkeley College-Woodland Park, NJ$16,909
North Country Community College, NY$17,110

Lowest debt for the pay

Middlesex College, NJ23%
Queensborough Community College, NY27%
BMCC, NY28%
UCNJ Union College of Union County New Jersey, NJ29%
Hudson County Community College, NJ31%
North Country Community College, NY34%
Berkeley College-Woodland Park, NJ43%
Fulton-Montgomery Community College, NY44%
Excelsior University, NY47%
SUNY Broome Community College, NY48%

Only the 11 programs with their own page here are included. "Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to health sciences, largest first. Pay is the median across the US and all experience levels.

Health Education Specialists

$64,070

Median pay in the US. 65,690 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $42,990Top 10%: $118,200

Community Health Workers

$51,850

Median pay in the US. 61,660 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $38,810Top 10%: $77,180

Common questions

The median health sciences associate's program in the US pays its graduates $33,625 in their first year and $47,967 five years after.

Health Sciences (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked146 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Medians are across programs, not students: each program counts once, however many graduates it has.
National medians include every program in the 50 states, DC, and US territories, including schools that have since closed. Schools with several campuses that report one combined figure are counted once.
Programs are ranked by College Scorecard median pay one year after graduation. Pay after cost of living uses the price level of the school's state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025. Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024