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

Liberal Arts and General Studies graduates leave with a median of $6,429 in federal loans, the lowest among 4 Catawba Valley Community College associate's programs that report debt.

How much does Catawba Valley Community College cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $2,427 a year, and $7,803 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $10,528 a year.

How many Catawba Valley Community College programs report graduate pay?

6 associate's programs and 5 certificate programs at Catawba Valley Community College report first-year pay, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

Catawba Valley Community College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Public college
Hickory, NC
2,741 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

6 Catawba Valley Community College associate's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($64,707), and Liberal Arts and General Studies the least ($23,951). The median program pays $46,849. Catawba Valley Community College also has 5 certificate programs that report pay.

In-state tuition and fees$2,427Per year. Out-of-state $7,803

Average net price after aid$10,528Per year

Graduation rate35%Within 1.5 times the normal program length

All 6 associate's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in North Carolina" compares first-year pay with the same field's associate's programs across North Carolina. 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 North Carolina
1	NursingAbout 64 graduates a year	$64,707	$70,336	$17,895	40th of 53
2	Dental Hygiene and AssistingAbout 15 graduates a year	$55,128	$54,508	Not reported	5th of 6
3	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 40 graduates a year	$52,273	$55,077	$7,125	12th of 22
4	Business AdministrationAbout 32 graduates a year	$41,425	$36,105	Not reported	1st of 19
5	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 22 graduates a year	$29,469	$37,279	$9,187	11th of 15
6	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 437 graduates a year	$23,951	$41,816	$6,429	38th of 49

Program names link to the program's own page, and North Carolina 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 North Carolina programs in the field do too.

All 5 certificate programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in North Carolina" compares first-year pay with the same field's certificate programs across North Carolina. 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 North Carolina
1	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 8 graduates a year	$41,191	Not reported	Not reported	4th of 5
2	AccountingAbout 26 graduates a year	$35,972	Not reported	Not reported	3rd of 3
3	Business AdministrationAbout 100 graduates a year	$32,230	Not reported	$8,573	8th of 15
4	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 64 graduates a year	$27,562	Not reported	Not reported	9th of 12
5	CosmetologyAbout 24 graduates a year	$16,506	Not reported	Not reported	14th of 22

Quick picks: associate's programs

Highest first-year pay

Nursing$64,707
Dental Hygiene and Assisting$55,128
Diagnostic and Treatment Professions$52,273
Business Administration$41,425
Health and Medical Administration$29,469

Lowest median debt

Liberal Arts and General Studies$6,429
Diagnostic and Treatment Professions$7,125
Health and Medical Administration$9,187
Nursing$17,895

Largest programs

Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 437 graduates a year
NursingAbout 64 graduates a year
Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 40 graduates a year
Business AdministrationAbout 32 graduates a year
Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 22 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $64,707 in their first year, the most of 6 Catawba Valley 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 North Carolina 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