Highest-Paying Social Sciences (Associate's) Programs in the US
- 21 programs report first-year pay
- 2 state rankings
- Associate's in Social Sciences, General
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
The median social sciences associate's program in the US pays its graduates $26,231 in their first year and $39,587 five years after. California has the highest state median ($25,267), and Virginia the lowest ($23,637). The median program leaves its graduates with $9,314 in federal debt.
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.
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.
3 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.
Social Sciences (Associate's) programs by state
Each row is the median across the state's social sciences associate's programs. State names link to the full ranking of that state's programs.
Programs in 5 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
- East Los Angeles College, CA$5,500
- Ohlone College, CA$5,500
- Barstow Community College, CA$5,588
- Mt San Jacinto Community College District, CA$6,625
- Sierra College, CA$7,834
- Merced College, CA$7,843
- Butte College, CA$9,036
- Virginia Western Community College, VA$9,128
- Virginia Peninsula Community College, VA$10,500
- Northern Virginia Community College, VA$10,500
Lowest debt for the pay
- Merced College, CA23%
- East Los Angeles College, CA24%
- Ohlone College, CA24%
- Barstow Community College, CA25%
- Sierra College, CA26%
- Mt San Jacinto Community College District, CA33%
- Butte College, CA34%
- Tidewater Community College, VA37%
- Virginia Peninsula Community College, VA41%
- Northern Virginia Community College, VA44%
Only the 13 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 social sciences, largest first. Pay is the median across the US and all experience levels.
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education
$63,970Median pay in the US. 1,388,390 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 87,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$72,040Median pay in the US. 1,065,210 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 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$64,370Median pay in the US. 620,090 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 38,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Social Science Research Assistants
$61,990Median 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.
Common questions
The median social sciences associate's program in the US pays its graduates $26,231 in their first year and $39,587 five years after.
California, where the median program pays its graduates $25,267 in their first year, the highest of 2 state rankings. Virginia is next, at $23,637.
Roxbury Community College in Massachusetts reports the highest first-year pay of the 21 programs ranked here, $37,941.
The median program leaves its graduates with $9,314 in federal debt. Across programs, the median debt is 35% of first-year pay.
Related pages
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