Antelope Valley Community College District Social Sciences (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Social Sciences, General
- Public college
- Lancaster, CA
- About 332 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Antelope Valley Community College District social sciences graduates earn about what social sciences graduates earn nationally, $24,052 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $12,711 in federal loans, more than at 90% of social sciences programs in the country. Several California programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all social sciences associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Antelope Valley Community College District graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California social sciences program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 78% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $135 a month, or 6.7% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
95% of graduates (59 of 62) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Los Angeles area are about 14% above the national average, so a $24,052 salary here buys what about $21,179 buys in a typical US city.
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 all experience levels.
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education
$99,650Median pay in California. 155,160 people work in this job in California. 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
$101,370Median pay in California. 99,230 people work in this job in California. 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
$98,950Median pay in California. 37,300 people work in this job in California. 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
$60,250Median pay in California. 5,300 people work in this job in California. 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.
About Antelope Valley Community College District
Social Sciences ranks 6th of 6 associate's programs at Antelope Valley Community College District by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($89,234), Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($64,230), and Industrial Technology ($60,323).
Other social sciences associate's programs near Lancaster
Common questions
The median graduate earns $24,052 one year after graduating and $42,711 five years after. The median across social sciences associate's programs in California is $25,267.
The median federal loan balance is $12,711, which ranks 8th lowest of 8 social sciences associate's programs in California. That works out to about $135 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 53% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 35%. Compare the cost with other California programs before deciding.
Most do. 95% (59 of 62) were working in California one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of California comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the social sciences program.
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
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024