South Texas College Business (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Business/Commerce, General
- Public college
- McAllen, TX
- About 273 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
South Texas College business graduates earn less than graduates of most business programs nationally, $24,738 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $5,421 in federal loans, less than at 97% of business programs in the country. Debt is low, but pay is also below the Texas median of $31,411.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Texas and national columns are the medians across all business associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, South Texas College graduates earn less than the national figure and about $9,659 less than the Texas median. Several Texas programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every Texas business program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Texas 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 40% 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 $57 a month, or 2.8% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
96% of graduates (104 of 108) were working in Texas one year after graduating. Prices in the McAllen area are about 14% below the national average, so a $24,738 salary here buys what about $28,800 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 business, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
General and Operations Managers
$103,230Median pay in Texas. 431,310 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 285,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Project Management Specialists
$98,440Median pay in Texas. 138,960 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 76,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Management Analysts
$101,400Median pay in Texas. 50,990 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 94,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Sales Managers
$136,020Median pay in Texas. 76,010 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 47,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
About South Texas College
Business ranks 10th of 18 associate's programs at South Texas College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($75,733), Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($68,727), and Welding and Machining ($33,167).
Other business associate's programs near McAllen
Common questions
The median graduate earns $24,738 one year after graduating and $34,698 five years after. The median across business associate's programs in Texas is $31,411.
The median federal loan balance is $5,421, which ranks the lowest of 12 business associate's programs in Texas. That works out to about $57 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 22% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 35%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Texas programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 96% (104 of 108) were working in Texas 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 Texas 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 business 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