Which Gaston College associate's program has the lowest debt?

Liberal Arts and General Studies graduates leave with a median of $6,334 in federal loans, the lowest among 3 Gaston College associate's programs that report debt.

How much does Gaston College cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $3,186 a year, and $9,330 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $6,592 a year.

How many Gaston College programs report graduate pay?

5 associate's programs and 3 certificate programs at Gaston College report first-year pay, and 4 of them also report federal debt.

Gaston College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Public college
Dallas, NC
3,518 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

5 Gaston College associate's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($68,245), and Liberal Arts and General Studies the least ($26,838). The median program pays $35,658. Gaston College also has 3 certificate programs that report pay.

In-state tuition and fees$3,186Per year. Out-of-state $9,330

Average net price after aid$6,592Per year

Graduation rate63%Within 1.5 times the normal program length

All 5 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 51 graduates a year	$68,245	$64,239	$12,750	24th of 53
2	Business AdministrationAbout 43 graduates a year	$36,747	$33,912	Not reported	9th of 19
3	Veterinary TechnologyAbout 21 graduates a year	$35,658	Not reported	$11,000	3rd of 3
4	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 29 graduates a year	$32,602	$32,171	Not reported	6th of 15
5	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 419 graduates a year	$26,838	$38,243	$6,334	25th 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 3 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	Criminal JusticeAbout 64 graduates a year	$50,038	Not reported	Not reported	2nd of 14
2	Practical NursingAbout 95 graduates a year	$42,358	$59,459	$13,576	11th of 14
3	CosmetologyAbout 33 graduates a year	$27,008	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 22

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $68,245 in their first year, the most of 5 Gaston 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