Southern University at Shreveport Medical Laboratory Science (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions
- Public university
- Shreveport, LA
- About 27 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Southern University at Shreveport medical laboratory science graduates earn less than graduates of most medical laboratory science programs nationally, $17,439 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $11,125 in federal loans, close to the national median of $11,084. Several Louisiana programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Louisiana and national columns are the medians across all medical laboratory science certificate programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Southern University at Shreveport graduates earn less than the national figure but about $1,071 more than the Louisiana median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Louisiana medical laboratory science program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Louisiana 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 74% 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 $118 a month, or 8.1% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
86% of graduates (25 of 29) were working in Louisiana one year after graduating. Prices in the Shreveport area are about 15% below the national average, so a $17,439 salary here buys what about $20,573 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 medical laboratory science, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians
$54,460Median pay in Louisiana. 3,790 people work in this job in Louisiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 20,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Phlebotomists
$36,120Median pay in Louisiana. 3,410 people work in this job in Louisiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 18,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.
Surgical Technologists
$57,370Median pay in Louisiana. 2,230 people work in this job in Louisiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.
Medical Equipment Preparers
$35,960Median pay in Louisiana. 620 people work in this job in Louisiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
About Southern University at Shreveport
Medical Laboratory Science is the only certificate program at Southern University at Shreveport that reports first-year earnings.
Common questions
The median graduate earns $17,439 one year after graduating and $30,420 five years after. The median across medical laboratory science certificate programs in Louisiana is $18,674.
The median federal loan balance is $11,125, which ranks 4th lowest of 5 medical laboratory science certificate programs in Louisiana. That works out to about $118 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 64% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 35%. Compare the cost with other Louisiana programs before deciding.
Most do. 86% (25 of 29) were working in Louisiana 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 Louisiana 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 medical laboratory science 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