Palm Beach State College Paralegal Studies (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Legal Support Services
- Public college
- Lake Worth, FL
- About 17 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Palm Beach State College paralegal studies graduates earn more than graduates of most paralegal studies programs nationally, $46,622 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $9,000 in federal loans, less than at 94% of paralegal studies programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying paralegal studies degrees in Florida.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Florida and national columns are the medians across all paralegal studies associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Palm Beach State College graduates earn more than the national figure and about $6,578 more than the Florida median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Florida paralegal studies program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Florida 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 2% between 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 $95 a month, or 2.4% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
94% of graduates (33 of 35) were working in Florida one year after graduating. Prices in the Miami area are about 14% above the national average, so a $46,622 salary here buys what about $40,841 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 paralegal studies, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Paralegals and Legal Assistants
$61,000Median pay in Florida. 40,950 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 40,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.
Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
$48,510Median pay in Florida. 10,920 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 18,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
Interpreters and Translators
$48,930Median pay in Florida. 4,200 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers
$58,450Median pay in Florida. 4,800 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 5,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
About Palm Beach State College
Paralegal Studies ranks 4th of 10 associate's programs at Palm Beach State College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($67,495), Dental Hygiene and Assisting ($63,723), and Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($56,594).
Other paralegal studies associate's programs near Lake Worth
Common questions
The median graduate earns $46,622 one year after graduating and $47,368 five years after. The median across paralegal studies associate's programs in Florida is $40,150.
The median federal loan balance is $9,000, which ranks the lowest of 6 paralegal studies associate's programs in Florida. That works out to about $95 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 19% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 50%.
Most do. 94% (33 of 35) were working in Florida 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 Florida 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 paralegal studies 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