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

Criminal Justice graduates leave with a median of $11,000 in federal loans, the lowest among 6 Hawkeye Community College associate's programs that report debt.

How much does Hawkeye Community College cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $6,525 a year, and $6,612 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $9,649 a year.

How many Hawkeye Community College programs report graduate pay?

11 associate's programs and 3 certificate programs at Hawkeye Community College report first-year pay, and 9 of them also report federal debt.

Hawkeye Community College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Public college
Waterloo, IA
2,626 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

11 Hawkeye Community College associate's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($58,835), and Graphic Communications the least ($29,682). The median program pays $44,602. Hawkeye Community College also has 3 certificate programs that report pay.

In-state tuition and fees$6,525Per year. Out-of-state $6,612

Average net price after aid$9,649Per year

Graduation rate43%Within 1.5 times the normal program length

All 11 associate's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Iowa" compares first-year pay with the same field's associate's programs across Iowa. 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 Iowa
1	NursingAbout 29 graduates a year	$58,835	$63,114	$26,983	12th of 16
2	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 21 graduates a year	$55,987	Not reported	Not reported	3rd of 10
3	Criminal JusticeAbout 26 graduates a year	$49,572	$54,434	$11,000	1st of 4
4	Vehicle Maintenance and RepairAbout 33 graduates a year	$47,762	$51,252	$12,000	6th of 9
5	Agricultural BusinessAbout 13 graduates a year	$47,472	$47,029	Not reported	1st of 3
6	CarpentryAbout 9 graduates a year	$44,602	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 1
7	Computer NetworkingAbout 14 graduates a year	$40,873	$62,399	Not reported	3rd of 3
8	Allied Health and Medical AssistingAbout 24 graduates a year	$39,614	$43,405	$20,716	2nd of 6
9	Health and Medical AdministrationGraduates a year not reported	$31,441	$35,989	$23,000	3rd of 3
10	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 228 graduates a year	$30,321	$43,743	$14,209	4th of 15
11	Graphic CommunicationsAbout 8 graduates a year	$29,682	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 1

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

All 3 certificate programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Iowa" compares first-year pay with the same field's certificate programs across Iowa. 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 Iowa
1	Welding and MachiningAbout 52 graduates a year	$45,509	$55,933	$7,874	2nd of 7
2	Dental Hygiene and AssistingAbout 19 graduates a year	$32,834	$40,504	$13,125	2nd of 4
3	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 3 graduates a year	$32,126	$34,893	$21,500	3rd of 5

One more certificate program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Quick picks: associate's programs

Highest first-year pay

Nursing$58,835
Diagnostic and Treatment Professions$55,987
Criminal Justice$49,572
Vehicle Maintenance and Repair$47,762
Agricultural Business$47,472

Lowest median debt

Criminal Justice$11,000
Vehicle Maintenance and Repair$12,000
Liberal Arts and General Studies$14,209
Allied Health and Medical Assisting$20,716
Health and Medical Administration$23,000

Largest programs

Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 228 graduates a year
Vehicle Maintenance and RepairAbout 33 graduates a year
NursingAbout 29 graduates a year
Criminal JusticeAbout 26 graduates a year
Allied Health and Medical AssistingAbout 24 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $58,835 in their first year, the most of 11 Hawkeye 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 Iowa 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