Which Arapahoe Community College associate's program has the lowest debt?

Design and Applied Arts graduates leave with a median of $15,000 in federal loans, the lowest among 8 Arapahoe Community College associate's programs that report debt.

How much does Arapahoe Community College cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $4,434 a year, and $17,034 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $11,571 a year.

How many Arapahoe Community College programs report graduate pay?

9 associate's programs and 4 certificate programs at Arapahoe Community College report first-year pay, and 12 of them also report federal debt.

Arapahoe Community College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Public college
Littleton, CO
5,383 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

9 Arapahoe Community College associate's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($73,926), and Design and Applied Arts the least ($32,100). The median program pays $43,631. Arapahoe Community College also has 4 certificate programs that report pay.

In-state tuition and fees$4,434Per year. Out-of-state $17,034

Average net price after aid$11,571Per year

Graduation rate29%Within 6 years

All 9 associate's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Colorado" compares first-year pay with the same field's associate's programs across Colorado. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in Colorado
1	NursingAbout 72 graduates a year	$73,926	$82,903	$30,750	4th of 12
2	Medical Laboratory ScienceAbout 14 graduates a year	$63,746	Not reported	$27,845	1st of 1
3	Funeral Service and Mortuary ScienceAbout 41 graduates a year	$50,953	$42,016	$22,675	1st of 1
4	Business AdministrationAbout 20 graduates a year	$49,531	Not reported	$22,144	1st of 5
5	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 15 graduates a year	$43,631	$51,957	$25,715	2nd of 5
6	Allied Health and Medical AssistingAbout 32 graduates a year	$42,853	$44,299	$21,303	2nd of 3
7	Vehicle Maintenance and RepairAbout 15 graduates a year	$38,845	$76,480	Not reported	4th of 7
8	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 450 graduates a year	$38,592	$45,421	$15,125	2nd of 13
9	Design and Applied ArtsAbout 50 graduates a year	$32,100	$44,854	$15,000	1st of 1

Program names link to the program's own page, and Colorado ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five Colorado programs in the field do too.

One more associate's program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

All 4 certificate programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Colorado" compares first-year pay with the same field's certificate programs across Colorado. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in Colorado
1	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 105 graduates a year	$59,024	Not reported	$11,454	3rd of 8
2	Criminal JusticeAbout 79 graduates a year	$54,371	$61,832	$21,351	7th of 11
3	Practical NursingAbout 200 graduates a year	$36,234	Not reported	$13,750	8th of 11
4	Human Development and Family StudiesGraduates a year not reported	$34,716	Not reported	$17,962	1st of 1

Quick picks: associate's programs

Highest first-year pay

Nursing$73,926
Medical Laboratory Science$63,746
Funeral Service and Mortuary Science$50,953
Business Administration$49,531
Health and Medical Administration$43,631

Lowest median debt

Design and Applied Arts$15,000
Liberal Arts and General Studies$15,125
Allied Health and Medical Assisting$21,303
Business Administration$22,144
Funeral Service and Mortuary Science$22,675

Largest programs

Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 450 graduates a year
NursingAbout 72 graduates a year
Design and Applied ArtsAbout 50 graduates a year
Funeral Service and Mortuary ScienceAbout 41 graduates a year
Allied Health and Medical AssistingAbout 32 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $73,926 in their first year, the most of 9 Arapahoe Community College associate's programs that report pay.

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.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
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 Colorado rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels