Southwest Tennessee Community 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
- Memphis, TN
- About 558 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Southwest Tennessee Community College liberal arts and general studies graduates earn about what liberal arts and general studies graduates earn nationally, $28,980 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $8,750 in federal loans, close to the national median of $10,864. It is one of the higher-paying liberal arts and general studies degrees in Tennessee.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Tennessee and national columns are the medians across all liberal arts and general studies associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Southwest Tennessee Community College graduates earn less than the national figure and about the same as the Tennessee median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Tennessee liberal arts and general studies program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Tennessee 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 33% 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 $93 a month, or 3.9% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
20 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $11,110.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
94% of graduates (186 of 198) were working in Tennessee one year after graduating. Prices in the Memphis area are about 8% below the national average, so a $28,980 salary here buys what about $31,439 buys in a typical US city.
About Southwest Tennessee Community College
Liberal Arts and General Studies ranks 6th of 6 associate's programs at Southwest Tennessee Community College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($72,913), Allied Health and Medical Assisting ($44,955), and Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($43,958).
Other liberal arts and general studies associate's programs near Memphis
Common questions
The median graduate earns $28,980 one year after graduating and $38,553 five years after. The median across liberal arts and general studies associate's programs in Tennessee is $26,438.
The median federal loan balance is $8,750, which ranks 8th lowest of 15 liberal arts and general studies associate's programs in Tennessee. That works out to about $93 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 30% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 38%.
Most do. 94% (186 of 198) were working in Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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