Which paralegal studies associate's program pays the most?

Inver Hills Community College in Minnesota reports the highest first-year pay of the 55 programs ranked here, $49,694. Its median federal debt is $24,521.

How much debt do paralegal studies associate's graduates have?

The median program leaves its graduates with $19,500 in federal debt. Across programs, the median debt is 50% of first-year pay.

Highest-Paying Paralegal Studies (Associate's) Programs in the US

57 programs report first-year pay
1 state ranking
Associate's in Legal Support Services

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median paralegal studies associate's program in the US pays its graduates $37,559 in their first year and $42,723 five years after. Florida is the only state with enough programs to rank, with a median of $40,150. The median program leaves its graduates with $19,500 in federal debt.

Median first-year pay$37,559Across 57 programs

Median pay after 5 years$42,723Across 128 programs

Median federal debt$19,500Across 65 programs

Debt-to-earnings50%Across 49 programs

All 55 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	Inver Hills Community CollegeInver Grove Heights, MN · public	$49,694	$50,389	$48,783	$24,521	49%
2	Des Moines Area Community CollegeAnkeny, IA · public	$49,137	$55,989	Not reported	$12,250	25%
3	North Hennepin Community CollegeBrooklyn Park, MN · public	$48,960	$49,645	$51,872	$18,625	38%
4	MTI CollegeSacramento, CA · private for-profit	$47,535	$42,933	$54,511	$13,758	29%
5	Palm Beach State CollegeLake Worth, FL · public	$46,622	$45,083	$47,368	$9,000	19%
6	Austin Community College DistrictAustin, TX · public	$46,216	$47,617	$53,952	$14,125	31%
7	Northern Virginia Community CollegeAnnandale, VA · public	$45,915	$45,414	$46,360	$17,427	38%
8	Phoenix CollegePhoenix, AZ · public	$45,838	$45,530	$50,065	$15,000	33%
9	Liberty UniversityLynchburg, VA · private nonprofit	$45,452	Not adjusted	$36,192	$30,500	67%
10	Seminole State College of FloridaSanford, FL · public	$44,783	$43,305	$50,407	$25,858	58%
11	South Coast CollegeOrange, CA · private for-profit	$44,536	$40,224	$64,450	Not reported	Not reported
12	Rose State CollegeMidwest City, OK · public	$43,518	Not adjusted	$43,746	$14,591	34%
13	Generations CollegeChicago, IL · private nonprofit	$43,061	$43,079	Not reported	$24,750	57%
14	Southwestern Illinois CollegeBelleville, IL · public	$42,994	$43,012	$44,861	$14,348	33%
15	Portland Community CollegePortland, OR · public	$42,463	$41,082	$56,558	$23,250	55%
16	Miami Dade CollegeMiami, FL · public	$40,782	$39,436	Not reported	$12,950	32%
17	Crestpoint UniversityPhoenix, AZ · private for-profit	$40,585	Not adjusted	$39,195	$25,250	62%
18	Harrisburg Area Community CollegeHarrisburg, PA · public	$40,240	$41,241	$47,087	$13,337	33%
19	American Public University SystemCharles Town, WV · private for-profit	$40,049	Not adjusted	$43,421	$26,419	66%
20	Herzing University-MadisonMadison, WI · private nonprofit	$39,952	$42,459	$40,021	$31,441	79%
21	Salt Lake Community CollegeSalt Lake City, UT · public	$39,729	Not adjusted	$49,153	$12,250	31%
22	Hillsborough CollegeTampa, FL · public	$39,517	$38,212	Not reported	$21,036	53%
23	Edmonds CollegeLynnwood, WA · public	$39,455	$36,869	Not reported	$15,531	39%
24	Greenville Technical CollegeGreenville, SC · public	$39,026	$41,628	$48,349	$18,500	47%
25	Fremont UniversityCerritos, CA · private for-profit	$38,854	$35,092	$45,423	$21,312	55%
26	Tarrant County College DistrictFort Worth, TX · public	$38,404	$39,569	$48,930	Not reported	Not reported
27	J Sargeant Reynolds Community CollegeRichmond, VA · public	$38,066	$37,650	Not reported	$20,250	53%
28	Midlands Technical CollegeWest Columbia, SC · public	$37,615	$40,123	$40,079	$21,320	57%
29	Keiser UniversityFort Lauderdale, FL · private nonprofit	$37,559	$36,319	$40,790	$29,234	78%
30	IBMC CollegeFort Collins, CO · private for-profit	$37,542	$36,430	$42,987	Not reported	Not reported
31	LaGuardia Community CollegeLong Island City, NY · public	$36,358	Not adjusted	$41,174	Not reported	Not reported
32	Central Piedmont Community CollegeCharlotte, NC · public	$35,314	$37,438	$49,630	Not reported	Not reported
33	Holmes Community CollegeGoodman, MS · public	$35,160	$40,436	$32,124	$13,794	39%
34	Purdue GlobalWest Lafayette, IN · public	$35,086	Not adjusted	$40,341	$25,974	74%
35	Ivy Tech Community CollegeIndianapolis, IN · public	$34,981	$37,481	$39,293	$14,280	41%
36	Rasmussen UniversitySt. Cloud, MN · private for-profit	$34,421	$34,902	$42,836	$27,876	81%
37	Tidewater Community CollegeNorfolk, VA · public	$33,677	$33,309	$40,986	$14,863	44%
38	Dallas CollegeDallas, TX · public	$33,381	$34,393	$52,108	$17,294	52%
39	Nassau Community CollegeGarden City, NY · public	$32,464	$30,081	$48,944	$9,000	28%
40	Valencia CollegeOrlando, FL · public	$32,210	$31,147	$40,513	$16,002	50%
41	West Virginia Junior College-MorgantownMorgantown, WV · private for-profit	$31,930	$35,677	Not reported	$14,096	44%
42	Saint Louis Community CollegeBridgeton, MO · public	$31,842	$35,062	$48,721	$6,500	20%
43	South University-SavannahSavannah, GA · private for-profit	$31,126	Not adjusted	$38,185	$30,306	97%
44	Bryant & Stratton College-BuffaloBuffalo, NY · private nonprofit	$30,998	Not adjusted	$40,856	$25,524	82%
45	Chattanooga State Community CollegeChattanooga, TN · public	$30,368	Not adjusted	$41,117	Not reported	Not reported
46	Baton Rouge Community CollegeBaton Rouge, LA · public	$30,115	Not adjusted	$37,838	$20,750	69%
47	Mt San Antonio CollegeWalnut, CA · public	$29,569	$26,706	$44,776	$14,353	49%
48	Plaza CollegeForest Hills, NY · private for-profit	$29,454	$27,292	Not reported	$20,691	70%
49	College of Southern NevadaLas Vegas, NV · public	$28,803	$28,809	$51,139	$8,506	30%
50	York Technical CollegeRock Hill, SC · public	$27,997	$29,864	Not reported	$10,647	38%
51	Center for Advanced Legal StudiesHouston, TX · private for-profit	$27,585	$28,421	$44,837	$23,738	86%
52	South Puget Sound Community CollegeOlympia, WA · public	$27,530	$25,726	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
53	Miller-Motte College-ChattanoogaChattanooga, TN · private for-profit	$27,479	$29,911	$35,454	$30,263	110%
54	Bryan University (Arizona)Tempe, AZ · private for-profit	$26,288	Not adjusted	$42,985	$26,380	100%
55	Remington College-Dallas CampusDallas, TX · private nonprofit	$24,616	Not adjusted	$52,681	$27,358	111%

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 42 programs where at least half of the graduates who work are working in the school's state. The other 13, whose graduates mostly work in other states or whose state has no price level, are listed last when you sort by it.

7 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. 2 more programs report pay but aren't listed, because College Scorecard's school file doesn't name their schools. The national medians above still count them.

Paralegal Studies (Associate's) programs by state

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

State	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
Florida	6	$40,150	$20,598

Programs in 25 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

Palm Beach State College, FL$9,000
Miami Dade College, FL$12,950
Valencia College, FL$16,002
Hillsborough College, FL$21,036
Seminole State College of Florida, FL$25,858
Keiser University, FL$29,234

Lowest debt for the pay

Palm Beach State College, FL19%
Miami Dade College, FL32%
Valencia College, FL50%
Hillsborough College, FL53%
Seminole State College of Florida, FL58%
Keiser University, FL78%

Only the 6 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 paralegal studies, largest first. Pay is the median across the US and all experience levels.

Paralegals and Legal Assistants

$62,890

Median pay in the US. 392,880 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 40,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.

Bottom 10%: $44,740Top 10%: $101,500

Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

$55,570

Median pay in the US. 156,280 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 18,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $36,500Top 10%: $91,730

Interpreters and Translators

$60,170

Median pay in the US. 52,060 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $37,070Top 10%: $103,660

Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers

$58,650

Median pay in the US. 48,580 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 5,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $38,170Top 10%: $90,830

Common questions

The median paralegal studies associate's program in the US pays its graduates $37,559 in their first year and $42,723 five years after.

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