Which SOWELA Technical Community College associate's program has the lowest debt?

Nursing graduates leave with a median of $5,606 in federal loans, the lowest among 3 SOWELA Technical Community College associate's programs that report debt.

How much does SOWELA Technical Community College cost?

Tuition and fees are $4,305 a year for all students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $7,525 a year.

How many SOWELA Technical Community College programs report graduate pay?

8 associate's programs and one certificate program at SOWELA Technical Community College report first-year pay, and 4 of them also report federal debt.

SOWELA Technical Community College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Public college
Lake Charles, LA
2,966 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

8 SOWELA Technical Community College associate's programs report what graduates earn. Industrial Technology pays the most in the first year ($75,239), and Criminal Justice the least ($23,832). The median program pays $41,927. SOWELA Technical Community College also has one certificate program that reports pay.

Tuition and fees$4,305Per year, for all students

Average net price after aid$7,525Per year

Graduation rate43%Within 1.5 times the normal program length

All 8 associate's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Louisiana" compares first-year pay with the same field's associate's programs across Louisiana. 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 Louisiana
1	Industrial TechnologyAbout 89 graduates a year	$75,239	$130,442	$7,457	2nd of 6
2	NursingAbout 44 graduates a year	$72,690	Not reported	$5,606	8th of 13
3	Electrician TrainingAbout 92 graduates a year	$52,083	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 1
4	Electromechanical TechnologyAbout 82 graduates a year	$51,912	$71,409	$8,500	2nd of 3
5	BusinessAbout 34 graduates a year	$31,941	Not reported	Not reported	5th of 7
6	AccountingAbout 14 graduates a year	$31,019	$31,658	Not reported	1st of 2
7	Computer and Information ScienceAbout 20 graduates a year	$30,360	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 1
8	Criminal JusticeAbout 18 graduates a year	$23,832	$30,490	Not reported	4th of 4

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

One certificate program

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Louisiana" compares first-year pay with the same field's certificate programs across Louisiana.

Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in Louisiana
Practical NursingAbout 55 graduates a year	$43,365	$42,381	$8,000	10th of 15

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

Quick picks: associate's programs

Highest first-year pay

Industrial Technology$75,239
Nursing$72,690
Electrician Training$52,083
Electromechanical Technology$51,912
Business$31,941

Lowest median debt

Nursing$5,606
Industrial Technology$7,457
Electromechanical Technology$8,500

Largest programs

Electrician TrainingAbout 92 graduates a year
Industrial TechnologyAbout 89 graduates a year
Electromechanical TechnologyAbout 82 graduates a year
NursingAbout 44 graduates a year
BusinessAbout 34 graduates a year

Common questions

Industrial Technology graduates earn a median of $75,239 in their first year, the most of 8 SOWELA Technical Community 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 Louisiana 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