Del Mar College 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
- Corpus Christi, TX
- About 120 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Del Mar College liberal arts and general studies graduates earn less than graduates of most liberal arts and general studies programs nationally, $22,108 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $8,680 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, Del Mar College graduates earn about the national figure but about $1,613 less than the Texas median. Several Texas programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
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 81% 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 $92 a month, or 5.0% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
91% of graduates (29 of 32) were working in Texas one year after graduating. Prices in the Corpus Christi area are about 7% below the national average, so a $22,108 salary here buys what about $23,856 buys in a typical US city.
About Del Mar College
Liberal Arts and General Studies ranks 7th of 7 associate's programs at Del Mar College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($70,673), Physical Science Technology ($56,948), and Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($52,431).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $22,108 one year after graduating and $40,107 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 $8,680, which ranks 12th lowest of 46 liberal arts and general studies associate's programs in Texas. That works out to about $92 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 39% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 38%. Compare the cost with other Texas programs before deciding.
Most do. 91% (29 of 32) 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