Lone Star College System Diagnostic and Treatment Professions (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions
- Public college
- The Woodlands, TX
- About 157 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Lone Star College System diagnostic and treatment professions graduates earn about what diagnostic and treatment professions graduates earn nationally, $58,408 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $10,926 in federal loans, less than at 89% of diagnostic and treatment professions programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying diagnostic and treatment professions degrees in Texas.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Texas and national columns are the medians across all diagnostic and treatment professions associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Lone Star College System graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the Texas median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Texas diagnostic and treatment professions 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 15% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned slightly more in their first year than other graduates, but borrowed more: a median of $11,312 against $9,068.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $116 a month, or 2.4% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
97% of graduates (134 of 138) were working in Texas one year after graduating. Prices in the Houston area are about 1% below the national average, so a $58,408 salary here buys what about $59,220 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to diagnostic and treatment professions, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Radiologic Technologists and Technicians
$78,630Median pay in Texas. 20,250 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 13,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.
Emergency Medical Technicians
$37,260Median pay in Texas. 12,770 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 13,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.
Physician Assistants
$134,550Median pay in Texas. 10,110 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 21% from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.
Respiratory Therapists
$79,540Median pay in Texas. 12,130 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.
About Lone Star College System
Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ranks 2nd of 13 associate's programs at Lone Star College System by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($77,795), Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($58,408), and Physical Science Technology ($53,976).
Other diagnostic and treatment professions associate's programs near The Woodlands
Common questions
The median graduate earns $58,408 one year after graduating and $67,117 five years after. The median across diagnostic and treatment professions associate's programs in Texas is $55,775.
The median federal loan balance is $10,926, which ranks 5th lowest of 30 diagnostic and treatment professions associate's programs in Texas. That works out to about $116 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 19% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 34%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 20% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Texas programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 97% (134 of 138) 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 diagnostic and treatment professions 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