Suffolk County Community College Design and Applied Arts (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Design and Applied Arts
- Public college
- Selden, NY
- About 36 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Suffolk County Community College design and applied arts graduates earn about what design and applied arts graduates earn nationally, $24,907 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $9,132 in federal loans, less than at 95% of design and applied arts programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying design and applied arts degrees in New York.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The New York and national columns are the medians across all design and applied arts associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Suffolk County Community College graduates earn more than the national figure and about $3,529 more than the New York median.
Debt and first-year pay at every New York design and applied arts program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the New York 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 56% 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 $97 a month, or 4.7% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
88% of graduates (28 of 32) were working in New York one year after graduating. Prices in the New York area are about 13% above the national average, so a $24,907 salary here buys what about $22,127 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 design and applied arts, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Graphic Designers
$77,340Median pay in New York. 14,530 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 16,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Web and Digital Interface Designers
$120,990Median pay in New York. 16,560 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Interior Designers
$75,580Median pay in New York. 5,340 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Art Directors
$137,320Median pay in New York. 8,720 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
About Suffolk County Community College
Design and Applied Arts ranks 8th of 9 associate's programs at Suffolk County Community College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($78,850), Vehicle Maintenance and Repair ($42,496), and Business Administration ($34,816).
Other design and applied arts associate's programs near Selden
Common questions
The median graduate earns $24,907 one year after graduating and $38,842 five years after. The median across design and applied arts associate's programs in New York is $20,079.
The median federal loan balance is $9,132, which ranks the lowest of 7 design and applied arts associate's programs in New York. That works out to about $97 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 37% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 54%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several New York programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 88% (28 of 32) were working in New York 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 New York 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 design and applied arts 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