Parkland College Liberal Arts and General Studies (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities
- Public college
- Champaign, IL
- About 253 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Parkland College liberal arts and general studies graduates earn about what liberal arts and general studies graduates earn nationally, $26,912 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $9,250 in federal loans, close to the national median of $10,864. Several Illinois programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Illinois and national columns are the medians across all liberal arts and general studies associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Parkland College graduates earn less than the national figure and about $2,878 less than the Illinois median. Several Illinois programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every Illinois liberal arts and general studies program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Illinois 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 42% 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 $98 a month, or 4.4% 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
88% of graduates (59 of 67) were working in Illinois one year after graduating. Prices in the Champaign area are about 7% below the national average, so a $26,912 salary here buys what about $29,030 buys in a typical US city.
About Parkland College
Liberal Arts and General Studies ranks 6th of 7 associate's programs at Parkland College by first-year earnings. The top three are Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($55,060), Vehicle Maintenance and Repair ($51,093), and Dental Hygiene and Assisting ($47,133).
Other liberal arts and general studies associate's programs near Champaign
Common questions
The median graduate earns $26,912 one year after graduating and $38,337 five years after. The median across liberal arts and general studies associate's programs in Illinois is $27,529.
The median federal loan balance is $9,250, which ranks 28th lowest of 40 liberal arts and general studies associate's programs in Illinois. That works out to about $98 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 34% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 38%, 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 Illinois programs report higher pay.
Most do. 88% (59 of 67) were working in Illinois 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 Illinois 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 liberal arts and general 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