College of the Desert Business Administration (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Business Administration, Management and Operations
- Public college
- Palm Desert, CA
- About 138 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
College of the Desert business administration graduates earn less than graduates of most business administration programs nationally, $25,934 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $5,500 in federal loans, less than at 98% of business administration programs in the country. Debt is low, but pay is also below the California median of $29,222.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all business administration associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, College of the Desert graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California business administration 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 110% 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 $58 a month, or 2.7% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
90% of graduates (28 of 31) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Riverside area are about 6% above the national average, so a $25,934 salary here buys what about $24,364 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 business administration, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
General and Operations Managers
$124,390Median pay in California. 300,840 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 285,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers
$77,590Median pay in California. 149,230 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 127,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers
$54,870Median pay in California. 109,180 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 113,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Project Management Specialists
$120,910Median pay in California. 114,380 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 76,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About College of the Desert
Business Administration ranks 4th of 5 associate's programs at College of the Desert by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($91,848), Criminal Justice ($32,482), and Liberal Arts and General Studies ($30,417).
Other business administration associate's programs near Palm Desert
Common questions
The median graduate earns $25,934 one year after graduating and $54,334 five years after. The median across business administration associate's programs in California is $29,222.
The median federal loan balance is $5,500, which ranks the lowest of 17 business administration associate's programs in California. That works out to about $58 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 21% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 38%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several California programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 90% (28 of 31) 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 business administration 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