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

Liberal Arts and General Studies graduates leave with a median of $11,000 in federal loans, the lowest among 10 Hillsborough College associate's programs that report debt.

How much does Hillsborough College cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $2,506 a year, and $9,111 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $3,861 a year.

How many Hillsborough College programs report graduate pay?

13 associate's programs and 11 certificate programs at Hillsborough College report first-year pay, and 20 of them also report federal debt.

Hillsborough College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Public college
Tampa, FL
21,472 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

13 Hillsborough College associate's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($64,429), and Culinary Arts the least ($29,451). The median program pays $40,619. Hillsborough College also has 11 certificate programs that report pay.

In-state tuition and fees$2,506Per year. Out-of-state $9,111

Average net price after aid$3,861Per year

Graduation rate34%Within 6 years

All 13 associate's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Florida" compares first-year pay with the same field's associate's programs across Florida. 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 Florida
1	NursingAbout 210 graduates a year	$64,429	$77,444	$17,063	25th of 47
2	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 113 graduates a year	$62,961	Not reported	$18,000	4th of 32
3	Dental Hygiene and AssistingAbout 12 graduates a year	$62,731	Not reported	Not reported	3rd of 12
4	Ophthalmic and Optometric ServicesAbout 46 graduates a year	$48,106	Not reported	$19,464	2nd of 2
5	Computer ProgrammingAbout 22 graduates a year	$42,710	Not reported	$18,262	1st of 3
6	Business AdministrationAbout 48 graduates a year	$41,236	Not reported	$14,719	6th of 13
7	Information TechnologyAbout 37 graduates a year	$40,619	Not reported	$12,750	4th of 5
8	Paralegal StudiesAbout 30 graduates a year	$39,517	Not reported	$21,036	4th of 6
9	Mental Health and Addiction ServicesAbout 26 graduates a year	$35,956	Not reported	$28,529	1st of 2
10	Veterinary TechnologyAbout 16 graduates a year	$35,698	$38,037	Not reported	3rd of 4
11	Criminal JusticeAbout 71 graduates a year	$33,013	$43,586	$12,654	6th of 6
12	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 2,681 graduates a year	$30,406	$45,750	$11,000	5th of 32
13	Culinary ArtsAbout 9 graduates a year	$29,451	Not reported	Not reported	2nd of 4

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

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

All 11 certificate programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Florida" compares first-year pay with the same field's certificate programs across Florida. 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 Florida
1	Criminal JusticeAbout 173 graduates a year	$62,249	$62,013	$18,924	2nd of 20
2	Medical Laboratory ScienceAbout 58 graduates a year	$61,237	$52,247	$14,500	1st of 11
3	Electrician TrainingAbout 59 graduates a year	$54,584	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 8
4	Fire ScienceAbout 87 graduates a year	$50,331	$68,028	$14,735	3rd of 10
5	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 361 graduates a year	$45,319	$58,250	$12,000	11th of 23
6	Paralegal StudiesAbout 16 graduates a year	$43,871	Not reported	$27,000	1st of 1
7	AccountingAbout 80 graduates a year	$39,076	Not reported	$18,445	1st of 3
8	Business AdministrationAbout 214 graduates a year	$37,006	Not reported	$14,933	2nd of 5
9	Vehicle Maintenance and RepairAbout 11 graduates a year	$36,894	$40,315	$7,876	7th of 28
10	EntrepreneurshipAbout 39 graduates a year	$36,690	Not reported	$16,573	2nd of 2
11	Welding and MachiningAbout 53 graduates a year	$24,327	Not reported	$5,500	14th of 16

4 more certificate programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Quick picks: associate's programs

Highest first-year pay

Nursing$64,429
Diagnostic and Treatment Professions$62,961
Dental Hygiene and Assisting$62,731
Ophthalmic and Optometric Services$48,106
Computer Programming$42,710

Lowest median debt

Largest programs

Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 2,681 graduates a year
NursingAbout 210 graduates a year
Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 113 graduates a year
Criminal JusticeAbout 71 graduates a year
Business AdministrationAbout 48 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $64,429 in their first year, the most of 13 Hillsborough 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 Florida 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