College of the Mainland Liberal Arts and General Studies (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities
- Public college
- Texas City, TX
- About 265 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
College of the Mainland liberal arts and general studies graduates earn about what liberal arts and general studies graduates earn nationally, $27,368 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $9,500 in federal loans, close to the national median of $10,864. Several Texas programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Texas and national columns are the medians across all liberal arts and general studies associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, College of the Mainland graduates earn more than the national figure and about $5,135 more than the Texas median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Texas liberal arts and general studies program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Texas 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 71% 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 $101 a month, or 4.4% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
94% of graduates (48 of 51) were working in Texas one year after graduating. Prices in the Houston area are about 1% below the national average, so a $27,368 salary here buys what about $27,748 buys in a typical US city.
About College of the Mainland
Liberal Arts and General Studies ranks 3rd of 3 associate's programs at College of the Mainland by first-year earnings. The others are Nursing ($74,310) and Physical Science Technology ($49,694).
Other liberal arts and general studies associate's programs near Texas City
Common questions
The median graduate earns $27,368 one year after graduating and $46,855 five years after. The median across liberal arts and general studies associate's programs in Texas is $27,180.
The median federal loan balance is $9,500, which ranks 19th lowest of 46 liberal arts and general studies associate's programs in Texas. That works out to about $101 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 35% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 38%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Texas programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 94% (48 of 51) were working in Texas 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 Texas 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 liberal arts and general studies 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