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

Engineering graduates leave with a median of $9,500 in federal loans, the lowest among 15 Northern Virginia Community College associate's programs that report debt.

How much does Northern Virginia Community College cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $5,891 a year, and $12,409 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $9,919 a year.

How many Northern Virginia Community College programs report graduate pay?

15 associate's programs and 5 certificate programs at Northern Virginia Community College report first-year pay, and 19 of them also report federal debt.

Northern Virginia Community College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Public college
Annandale, VA
33,048 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

15 Northern Virginia Community College associate's programs report what graduates earn. Diagnostic and Treatment Professions pays the most in the first year ($74,050), and Engineering the least ($16,790). The median program pays $39,679. Northern Virginia Community College also has 5 certificate programs that report pay.

In-state tuition and fees$5,891Per year. Out-of-state $12,409

Average net price after aid$9,919Per year

Graduation rate33%Within 1.5 times the normal program length

All 15 associate's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Virginia" compares first-year pay with the same field's associate's programs across Virginia. 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 Virginia
1	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 85 graduates a year	$74,050	$76,559	$13,437	1st of 11
2	NursingAbout 106 graduates a year	$72,905	$81,383	$21,000	2nd of 25
3	Dental Hygiene and AssistingAbout 24 graduates a year	$70,727	$81,348	$20,894	1st of 4
4	Information TechnologyAbout 422 graduates a year	$54,742	Not reported	$12,500	1st of 2
5	Computer ScienceAbout 322 graduates a year	$48,889	$85,960	$13,000	1st of 1
6	Paralegal StudiesAbout 37 graduates a year	$45,915	$46,360	$17,427	1st of 4
7	Veterinary TechnologyAbout 17 graduates a year	$42,966	$49,695	$21,101	1st of 2
8	Computer and Information ScienceAbout 549 graduates a year	$39,679	$73,013	$10,490	3rd of 3
9	Design and Applied ArtsAbout 60 graduates a year	$33,232	Not reported	$18,250	1st of 3
10	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 1,298 graduates a year	$32,144	$52,654	$11,000	1st of 20
11	Business AdministrationAbout 854 graduates a year	$30,503	$59,601	$10,319	10th of 11
12	Human Development and Family StudiesAbout 79 graduates a year	$27,768	$31,603	$17,500	1st of 2
13	Social SciencesAbout 351 graduates a year	$23,637	$48,149	$10,500	3rd of 5
14	Biological and Physical SciencesAbout 242 graduates a year	$21,923	$46,948	$10,500	6th of 6
15	EngineeringAbout 232 graduates a year	$16,790	$83,194	$9,500	2nd of 2

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

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

All 5 certificate programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Virginia" compares first-year pay with the same field's certificate programs across Virginia. 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 Virginia
1	Business AdministrationAbout 613 graduates a year	$47,527	$48,443	$10,699	1st of 4
2	Vehicle Maintenance and RepairAbout 49 graduates a year	$35,887	$61,320	Not reported	5th of 9
3	Information TechnologyGraduates a year not reported	$34,867	Not reported	$10,187	1st of 1
4	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 247 graduates a year	$24,353	$46,146	$10,750	9th of 18
5	Human Development and Family StudiesAbout 197 graduates a year	$24,012	Not reported	$15,183	1st of 5

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

Quick picks: associate's programs

Highest first-year pay

Diagnostic and Treatment Professions$74,050
Nursing$72,905
Dental Hygiene and Assisting$70,727
Information Technology$54,742
Computer Science$48,889

Lowest median debt

Engineering$9,500
Business Administration$10,319
Computer and Information Science$10,490
Social Sciences$10,500
Biological and Physical Sciences$10,500

Largest programs

Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 1,298 graduates a year
Business AdministrationAbout 854 graduates a year
Computer and Information ScienceAbout 549 graduates a year
Information TechnologyAbout 422 graduates a year
Social SciencesAbout 351 graduates a year

Common questions

Diagnostic and Treatment Professions graduates earn a median of $74,050 in their first year, the most of 15 Northern Virginia 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 Virginia 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