Which Madison Area Technical College associate's program has the lowest debt?

Criminal Justice graduates leave with a median of $13,750 in federal loans, the lowest among 13 Madison Area Technical College associate's programs that report debt.

How much does Madison Area Technical College cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $4,977 a year, and $7,255 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $14,238 a year.

How many Madison Area Technical College programs report graduate pay?

15 associate's programs and 7 certificate programs at Madison Area Technical College report first-year pay, and 19 of them also report federal debt.

Madison Area Technical College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Public college
Madison, WI
10,073 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

15 Madison Area Technical College associate's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($66,446), and Office Administration the least ($27,467). The median program pays $45,333. Madison Area Technical College also has 7 certificate programs that report pay.

In-state tuition and fees$4,977Per year. Out-of-state $7,255

Average net price after aid$14,238Per year

All 15 associate's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Wisconsin" compares first-year pay with the same field's associate's programs across Wisconsin. 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 Wisconsin
1	NursingAbout 145 graduates a year	$66,446	Not reported	$26,235	7th of 17
2	Computer NetworkingAbout 25 graduates a year	$65,324	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 9
3	Software and Media ApplicationsAbout 32 graduates a year	$65,191	Not reported	$16,640	1st of 1
4	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 44 graduates a year	$62,646	Not reported	$22,892	2nd of 11
5	Dental Hygiene and AssistingAbout 35 graduates a year	$59,139	Not reported	$19,000	3rd of 7
6	Information TechnologyAbout 37 graduates a year	$54,784	Not reported	$19,250	1st of 7
7	Medical Laboratory ScienceAbout 16 graduates a year	$54,717	Not reported	$26,000	2nd of 3
8	AccountingAbout 31 graduates a year	$45,333	Not reported	$20,252	2nd of 9
9	Business AdministrationAbout 58 graduates a year	$43,085	Not reported	$16,500	5th of 15
10	Criminal JusticeAbout 28 graduates a year	$39,174	Not reported	$13,750	7th of 12
11	Allied Health and Medical AssistingAbout 17 graduates a year	$35,549	Not reported	$15,375	6th of 11
12	Veterinary TechnologyAbout 56 graduates a year	$34,698	Not reported	$16,500	3rd of 3
13	Design and Applied ArtsAbout 72 graduates a year	$30,710	Not reported	$15,750	3rd of 7
14	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 386 graduates a year	$29,018	$44,798	$14,000	5th of 7
15	Office AdministrationAbout 8 graduates a year	$27,467	Not reported	Not reported	4th of 4

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

All 7 certificate programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Wisconsin" compares first-year pay with the same field's certificate programs across Wisconsin. 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 Wisconsin
1	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 251 graduates a year	$57,005	$56,212	$17,000	4th of 11
2	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 42 graduates a year	$43,237	Not reported	$22,539	1st of 9
3	Welding and MachiningAbout 124 graduates a year	$37,860	$52,292	$9,500	13th of 14
4	Vehicle Maintenance and RepairAbout 36 graduates a year	$37,001	Not reported	$9,500	6th of 10
5	Allied Health and Medical AssistingAbout 40 graduates a year	$34,484	Not reported	$16,875	11th of 18
6	Massage TherapyGraduates a year not reported	$29,119	Not reported	Not reported	2nd of 4
7	CosmetologyAbout 25 graduates a year	$22,152	Not reported	$8,875	7th of 16

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

Quick picks: associate's programs

Highest first-year pay

Nursing$66,446
Computer Networking$65,324
Software and Media Applications$65,191
Diagnostic and Treatment Professions$62,646
Dental Hygiene and Assisting$59,139

Lowest median debt

Criminal Justice$13,750
Liberal Arts and General Studies$14,000
Allied Health and Medical Assisting$15,375
Design and Applied Arts$15,750
Business Administration$16,500

Largest programs

Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 386 graduates a year
NursingAbout 145 graduates a year
Design and Applied ArtsAbout 72 graduates a year
Business AdministrationAbout 58 graduates a year
Veterinary TechnologyAbout 56 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $66,446 in their first year, the most of 15 Madison Area Technical 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 Wisconsin 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