Merced College Social Sciences (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Social Sciences, General
- Public college
- Merced, CA
- About 188 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Merced College social sciences graduates earn more than graduates of most social sciences programs nationally, $34,168 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $7,843 in federal loans, close to the national median of $9,314. It is one of the higher-paying social sciences degrees in California.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all social sciences associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Merced College graduates earn less than the national figure and about $8,626 less than the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California social sciences program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California 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 is about the same in the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $83 a month, or 2.9% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
97% of graduates (35 of 36) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Merced area are about 2% below the national average, so a $34,168 salary here buys what about $34,768 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 social sciences, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education
$99,650Median pay in California. 155,160 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 87,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$101,370Median pay in California. 99,230 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$98,950Median pay in California. 37,300 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 38,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Social Science Research Assistants
$60,250Median pay in California. 5,300 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Merced College
Social Sciences ranks 4th of 6 associate's programs at Merced College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($107,024), Practical Nursing ($47,114), and Psychology ($34,441).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $34,168 one year after graduating and $34,085 five years after. The median across social sciences associate's programs in California is $25,267.
The median federal loan balance is $7,843, which ranks 6th lowest of 8 social sciences associate's programs in California. That works out to about $83 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 23% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 35%.
Most do. 97% (35 of 36) were working in California 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 California 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 social sciences 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