Highest-Paying Mental Health and Addiction Services (Certificate) Programs in the US

Q: Which mental health and addiction services certificate program pays the most?

Coalinga College in California reports the highest first-year pay of the 21 programs ranked here, $71,517. Its median federal debt is $11,750.

21 programs report first-year pay
1 state ranking
Certificate in Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median mental health and addiction services certificate program in the US pays its graduates $31,575 in their first year and $39,020 five years after. California is the only state with enough programs to rank, with a median of $59,278. The median program leaves its graduates with $16,384 in federal debt.

Median first-year pay$31,575Across 21 programs

Median pay after 5 years$39,020Across 42 programs

Median federal debt$16,384Across 35 programs

Debt-to-earnings46%Across 19 programs

All 21 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	Coalinga CollegeCoalinga, CA · public	$71,517	$64,593	$70,740	$11,750	16%
2	Lemoore CollegeLemoore, CA · public	$69,125	$62,432	Not reported	$13,080	19%
3	Mt San Antonio CollegeWalnut, CA · public	$59,278	$53,539	$74,904	$10,000	17%
4	Pueblo Community CollegePueblo, CO · public	$59,198	$57,445	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
5	Gurnick Academy of Medical ArtsSan Jose, CA · private for-profit	$53,451	$48,276	Not reported	$16,850	32%
6	Minneapolis Community and Technical CollegeMinneapolis, MN · public	$49,629	$50,323	$55,325	$35,542	72%
7	Washburn UniversityTopeka, KS · public	$42,402	$47,078	$45,470	$31,125	73%
8	InterCoast Colleges-West CovinaWest Covina, CA · private for-profit	$37,997	$34,318	$37,412	$14,267	38%
9	Central Virginia Community CollegeLynchburg, VA · public	$32,649	$32,292	$40,655	$11,961	37%
10	Southside Virginia Community CollegeAlberta, VA · public	$31,975	$31,626	$32,215	$9,500	30%
11	IU EastRichmond, IN · public	$31,575	$33,832	Not reported	$16,477	52%
12	Northcentral Technical CollegeWausau, WI · public	$31,249	$33,210	$30,841	$17,004	54%
13	Forsyth Technical Community CollegeWinston-Salem, NC · public	$31,072	$32,941	$29,038	$18,682	60%
14	East Stroudsburg University of PennsylvaniaEast Stroudsburg, PA · public	$30,550	Not adjusted	Not reported	$26,000	85%
15	Cincinnati State Technical and Community CollegeCincinnati, OH · public	$29,883	Not adjusted	Not reported	$17,477	58%
16	Mountain Empire Community CollegeBig Stone Gap, VA · public	$29,551	$29,228	$34,411	$10,250	35%
17	Southwest Virginia Community CollegeCedar Bluff, VA · public	$29,501	$29,179	$33,622	Not reported	Not reported
18	Northern Essex Community CollegeHaverhill, MA · public	$27,799	Not adjusted	$38,653	$12,866	46%
19	Paul D Camp Community CollegeFranklin, VA · public	$24,556	$24,288	$39,690	$8,655	35%
20	Summit Academy Opportunities Industrialization CenterMinneapolis, MN · private nonprofit	$22,875	$23,195	$39,386	$13,875	61%
21	Sinclair Community CollegeDayton, OH · public	$18,958	$20,435	Not reported	$9,183	48%

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 18 programs where at least half of the graduates who work are working in the school's state. The other 3, whose graduates mostly work in other states or whose state has no price level, are listed last when you sort by it.

2 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

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

Mental Health and Addiction Services (Certificate) programs by state

Each row is the median across the state's mental health and addiction services certificate programs. State names link to the full ranking of that state's programs.

State	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
California	5	$59,278	$13,080

Programs in 10 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

Mt San Antonio College, CA$10,000
Coalinga College, CA$11,750
Lemoore College, CA$13,080
InterCoast Colleges-West Covina, CA$14,267
Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts, CA$16,850

Lowest debt for the pay

Only the 5 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 mental health and addiction services, largest first. Pay is the median across the US and all experience levels.

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$59,550

Median pay in the US. 392,550 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 33,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $42,280Top 10%: $95,530

Healthcare Social Workers

$67,880

Median pay in the US. 187,630 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035, with about 16,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $46,220Top 10%: $100,360

Psychiatric Technicians

$45,130

Median pay in the US. 156,960 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 22% from 2025 to 2035, with about 17,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $35,090Top 10%: $60,750

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

$60,280

Median pay in the US. 132,810 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $39,740Top 10%: $104,170

Common questions

The median mental health and addiction services certificate program in the US pays its graduates $31,575 in their first year and $39,020 five years after.

Mental Health and Addiction Services (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked35 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