Ridgewater 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
- Willmar, MN
- About 195 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Ridgewater College liberal arts and general studies graduates earn about what liberal arts and general studies graduates earn nationally, $29,262 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $11,389 in federal loans, close to the national median of $10,864. Several Minnesota programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Minnesota and national columns are the medians across all liberal arts and general studies associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Ridgewater College graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the Minnesota median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Minnesota liberal arts and general studies program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Minnesota 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 60% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned more in their first year than other graduates. They also borrowed less. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $121 a month, or 5.0% 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
89% of graduates (59 of 66) were working in Minnesota one year after graduating. Prices in the parts of Minnesota outside metro areas are about 14% below the national average, so a $29,262 salary here buys what about $34,084 buys in a typical US city.
About Ridgewater College
Liberal Arts and General Studies ranks 6th of 6 associate's programs at Ridgewater College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($59,082), Electromechanical Technology ($58,968), and Criminal Justice ($49,040).
Other liberal arts and general studies associate's programs near Willmar
Common questions
The median graduate earns $29,262 one year after graduating and $46,843 five years after. The median across liberal arts and general studies associate's programs in Minnesota is $32,056.
The median federal loan balance is $11,389, which ranks 3rd lowest of 23 liberal arts and general studies associate's programs in Minnesota. That works out to about $121 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 39% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 38%. Compare the cost with other Minnesota programs before deciding.
Most do. 89% (59 of 66) were working in Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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