Which state pays psychology associate's graduates the most?

Texas, where the median program pays its graduates $25,656 in their first year, the highest of 2 state rankings. California is next, at $25,343.

Which psychology associate's program pays the most?

Rockland Community College in New York reports the highest first-year pay of the 32 programs ranked here, $38,571. Its median federal debt is $11,000.

How much debt do psychology associate's graduates have?

The median program leaves its graduates with $11,099 in federal debt. Across programs, the median debt is 36% of first-year pay.

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

33 programs report first-year pay
2 state rankings
Associate's in Psychology, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median psychology associate's program in the US pays its graduates $26,229 in their first year and $37,024 five years after. Texas has the highest state median ($25,656), and California the lowest ($25,343). The median program leaves its graduates with $11,099 in federal debt.

Median first-year pay$26,229Across 33 programs

Median pay after 5 years$37,024Across 74 programs

Median federal debt$11,099Across 60 programs

Debt-to-earnings36%Across 32 programs

All 32 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	Rockland Community CollegeSuffern, NY · public	$38,571	$35,740	Not reported	$11,000	29%
2	University of CincinnatiCincinnati, OH · public	$38,019	$40,980	Not reported	$17,999	47%
3	Bunker Hill Community CollegeBoston, MA · public	$37,256	$35,228	$47,215	$9,500	25%
4	Merced CollegeMerced, CA · public	$34,441	$31,106	$32,072	$6,849	20%
5	Salt Lake Community CollegeSalt Lake City, UT · public	$32,619	$32,994	$36,790	$8,432	26%
6	Bucks County Community CollegeNewtown, PA · public	$31,905	$32,699	$39,522	$8,782	28%
7	Austin Community College DistrictAustin, TX · public	$29,930	$30,838	$37,449	$13,956	47%
8	Sinclair Community CollegeDayton, OH · public	$29,717	$32,032	Not reported	$13,661	46%
9	Liberty UniversityLynchburg, VA · private nonprofit	$29,199	Not adjusted	$37,706	$30,949	106%
10	Oklahoma City Community CollegeOklahoma City, OK · public	$28,679	$32,648	$35,051	$12,319	43%
11	Community College of PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia, PA · public	$28,034	$28,732	$39,730	$13,838	49%
12	Fresno City CollegeFresno, CA · public	$27,421	$24,766	$34,638	$7,802	28%
13	Tyler Junior CollegeTyler, TX · public	$26,982	$27,800	$34,455	$17,239	64%
14	Ivy Tech Community CollegeIndianapolis, IN · public	$26,688	$28,596	Not reported	$10,239	38%
15	Navarro CollegeCorsicana, TX · public	$26,236	$27,032	$39,108	$14,750	56%
16	San Diego Mesa CollegeSan Diego, CA · public	$26,229	Not adjusted	$42,029	$7,597	29%
17	Modesto Junior CollegeModesto, CA · public	$25,832	$23,331	$37,763	$6,757	26%
18	College of the DesertPalm Desert, CA · public	$25,792	$23,295	$30,561	$5,500	21%
19	Central New Mexico Community CollegeAlbuquerque, NM · public	$25,675	$27,843	$36,432	$8,858	35%
20	Amarillo CollegeAmarillo, TX · public	$25,076	$25,836	$29,731	$18,503	74%
21	Pasadena City CollegePasadena, CA · public	$24,894	$22,484	$41,258	$12,000	48%
22	Lemoore CollegeLemoore, CA · public	$24,719	$22,326	$30,968	$8,000	32%
23	LaGuardia Community CollegeLong Island City, NY · public	$24,052	$22,287	$45,078	$8,272	34%
24	College of Southern NevadaLas Vegas, NV · public	$23,984	$23,989	$38,196	$6,450	27%
25	College of the SequoiasVisalia, CA · public	$23,008	$20,780	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
26	El Paso Community CollegeEl Paso, TX · public	$20,644	$21,270	$27,622	$5,400	26%
27	Monroe Community CollegeRochester, NY · public	$19,909	$18,448	Not reported	$8,875	45%
28	South Texas CollegeMcAllen, TX · public	$19,552	$20,145	$31,308	$7,743	40%
29	BMCCNew York, NY · public	$18,867	$17,482	Not reported	$6,416	34%
30	Delaware County Community CollegeMedia, PA · public	$17,269	$17,699	$34,933	$17,500	101%
31	Mt San Antonio CollegeWalnut, CA · public	$16,894	$15,258	$30,700	$5,500	33%
32	Coalinga CollegeCoalinga, CA · public	$16,139	$14,576	Not reported	$8,000	50%

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 30 programs where at least half of the graduates who work are working in the school's state. The other 2, whose graduates mostly work in other states or whose state has no price level, are listed last when you sort by it.

One program reports pay but not debt, so it is 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. One more program reports pay but isn't listed, because College Scorecard's school file doesn't name its school. The national medians above still count them.

Psychology (Associate's) programs by state

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

State	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
Texas	6	$25,656	$13,553
California	10	$25,343	$7,387

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

Lowest debt for the pay

Merced College, CA20%
College of the Desert, CA21%
Modesto Junior College, CA26%
El Paso Community College, TX26%
Fresno City College, CA28%
San Diego Mesa College, CA29%
Lemoore College, CA32%
Mt San Antonio College, CA33%
South Texas College, TX40%
Austin Community College District, TX47%

Only the 15 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 psychology, largest first. Pay is the median across the US and all experience levels.

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists

$100,580

Median pay in the US. 75,990 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 12% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.

Bottom 10%: $55,170Top 10%: $180,960

Social Science Research Assistants

$61,990

Median pay in the US. 30,640 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $38,090Top 10%: $102,070

Industrial-Organizational Psychologists

$193,950

Median pay in the US. 790 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 300 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $79,010Top 10%: $247,220

Common questions

The median psychology associate's program in the US pays its graduates $26,229 in their first year and $37,024 five years after.

Psychology (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked875 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