Which South Texas College associate's program has the lowest debt?

Kinesiology and Exercise Science graduates leave with a median of $4,500 in federal loans, the lowest among 11 South Texas College associate's programs that report debt.

How much does South Texas College cost?

In-district tuition and fees are $4,920 a year, and $7,620 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $1,751 a year.

How many South Texas College programs report graduate pay?

3 bachelor's programs, 18 associate's programs, and 9 certificate programs at South Texas College report first-year pay, and 16 of them also report federal debt.

South Texas College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Public college
McAllen, TX
15,856 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

18 South Texas College associate's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($75,733), and Teacher Education the least ($16,902). The median program pays $25,238. South Texas College also has 3 bachelor's programs and 9 certificate programs that report pay.

In-district tuition and fees$4,920Per year. Out-of-state $7,620

Average net price after aid$1,751Per year

Graduation rate27%Within 6 years

All 3 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Texas" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across Texas. 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 Texas
1	Computer and Information ScienceAbout 84 graduates a year	$40,288	$57,686	$6,967	31st of 32
2	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 85 graduates a year	$33,063	$46,735	$5,500	9th of 9
3	Business AdministrationAbout 282 graduates a year	$31,973	$45,869	$5,449	61st of 63

Program names link to the program's own page, and Texas ranks link to the full ranking for the field.

All 18 associate's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Texas" compares first-year pay with the same field's associate's programs across Texas. 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 Texas
1	NursingAbout 190 graduates a year	$75,733	$84,408	$10,000	11th of 49
2	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 58 graduates a year	$68,727	$68,598	$5,062	2nd of 36
3	Welding and MachiningAbout 46 graduates a year	$33,167	Not reported	Not reported	4th of 5
4	Allied Health and Medical AssistingAbout 43 graduates a year	$32,084	$34,414	$10,378	18th of 20
5	Vehicle Maintenance and RepairAbout 35 graduates a year	$30,307	$46,601	Not reported	11th of 12
6	BiologyAbout 116 graduates a year	$28,791	$34,637	$6,602	4th of 8
7	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 7 graduates a year	$27,545	$30,743	Not reported	5th of 6
8	Computer and Information ScienceAbout 23 graduates a year	$26,755	$37,259	Not reported	5th of 5
9	Criminal JusticeAbout 312 graduates a year	$25,738	$36,079	$6,500	17th of 18
10	BusinessAbout 273 graduates a year	$24,738	$34,698	$5,421	12th of 12
11	Culinary ArtsAbout 29 graduates a year	$24,084	$29,888	Not reported	6th of 6
12	HVACAbout 22 graduates a year	$22,822	$29,167	Not reported	1st of 1
13	Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 59 graduates a year	$22,699	$43,059	$4,500	1st of 2
14	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 1,389 graduates a year	$20,366	$33,579	$7,500	43rd of 47
15	Human Development and Family StudiesAbout 25 graduates a year	$19,971	$22,217	Not reported	1st of 1
16	PsychologyAbout 127 graduates a year	$19,552	$31,308	$7,743	6th of 6
17	Social WorkAbout 81 graduates a year	$18,336	$37,160	$6,227	2nd of 2
18	Teacher EducationAbout 250 graduates a year	$16,902	$33,678	$5,500	12th of 13

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

All 9 certificate programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Texas" compares first-year pay with the same field's certificate programs across Texas. 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 Texas
1	Criminal JusticeAbout 38 graduates a year	$49,125	Not reported	Not reported	11th of 15
2	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 78 graduates a year	$42,378	$42,217	$10,033	14th of 18
3	Practical NursingAbout 200 graduates a year	$33,171	$40,070	$6,507	33rd of 37
4	Vehicle Maintenance and RepairAbout 68 graduates a year	$26,091	$41,838	Not reported	14th of 16
5	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 6 graduates a year	$25,817	Not reported	Not reported	10th of 20
6	HVACAbout 89 graduates a year	$25,711	$28,124	Not reported	9th of 9
7	Welding and MachiningAbout 375 graduates a year	$24,265	$42,369	Not reported	18th of 20
8	Electrician TrainingAbout 68 graduates a year	$20,150	$30,828	Not reported	5th of 5
9	Office AdministrationAbout 17 graduates a year	$16,475	Not reported	Not reported	4th of 4

Quick picks: associate's programs

Highest first-year pay

Nursing$75,733
Diagnostic and Treatment Professions$68,727
Welding and Machining$33,167
Allied Health and Medical Assisting$32,084
Vehicle Maintenance and Repair$30,307

Lowest median debt

Kinesiology and Exercise Science$4,500
Diagnostic and Treatment Professions$5,062
Business$5,421
Teacher Education$5,500
Social Work$6,227

Largest programs

Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 1,389 graduates a year
Criminal JusticeAbout 312 graduates a year
BusinessAbout 273 graduates a year
Teacher EducationAbout 250 graduates a year
NursingAbout 190 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $75,733 in their first year, the most of 18 South Texas 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 Texas 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