Which Texas State Technical College associate's program has the lowest debt?

Welding and Machining graduates leave with a median of $9,168 in federal loans, the lowest among 25 Texas State Technical College associate's programs that report debt.

How much does Texas State Technical College cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $7,212 a year, and $11,812 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $13,508 a year.

How many Texas State Technical College programs report graduate pay?

26 associate's programs and 11 certificate programs at Texas State Technical College report first-year pay, and 34 of them also report federal debt.

Texas State Technical College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Public college
Waco, TX
9,437 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

26 Texas State Technical College associate's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($79,324), and Biology the least ($21,288). The median program pays $36,387. Texas State Technical College also has 11 certificate programs that report pay.

In-state tuition and fees$7,212Per year. Out-of-state $11,812

Average net price after aid$13,508Per year

Graduation rate46%Within 1.5 times the normal program length

All 26 associate's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Texas" compares first-year pay with the same field's associate's programs across Texas. 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 Texas
1	NursingAbout 92 graduates a year	$79,324	$81,024	$24,654	3rd of 49
2	Electrician TrainingAbout 134 graduates a year	$76,445	$102,991	$11,668	1st of 1
3	Industrial TechnologyAbout 68 graduates a year	$64,485	$71,955	$15,834	1st of 2
4	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 40 graduates a year	$62,718	$61,161	$12,750	6th of 36
5	Electromechanical TechnologyAbout 187 graduates a year	$59,719	$75,664	$11,000	2nd of 7
6	Dental Hygiene and AssistingAbout 31 graduates a year	$56,609	$47,270	$16,500	4th of 11
7	Drafting and Design TechnologyAbout 9 graduates a year	$43,742	$49,782	$13,500	3rd of 3
8	Physical Science TechnologyAbout 16 graduates a year	$42,769	Not reported	$11,959	11th of 12
9	Welding and MachiningAbout 165 graduates a year	$39,234	$54,576	$9,168	2nd of 5
10	Construction Engineering TechnologyAbout 50 graduates a year	$38,682	Not reported	$12,125	1st of 1
11	Vehicle Maintenance and RepairAbout 288 graduates a year	$38,506	$54,421	$10,543	7th of 12
12	Environmental Control TechnologyAbout 37 graduates a year	$36,888	$36,228	$16,417	2nd of 3
13	Information TechnologyAbout 56 graduates a year	$36,509	$50,218	$17,500	1st of 1
14	Architectural TechnologyAbout 8 graduates a year	$36,265	Not reported	$9,875	1st of 1
15	Teaching Assistant TrainingAbout 32 graduates a year	$35,369	Not reported	$9,216	1st of 1
16	AviationAbout 12 graduates a year	$35,008	$60,824	$12,054	1st of 1
17	Quality Control and Safety TechnologyAbout 24 graduates a year	$33,249	$34,947	$19,000	2nd of 2
18	Computer ProgrammingAbout 14 graduates a year	$32,473	$41,898	$17,750	2nd of 3
19	Business AdministrationAbout 40 graduates a year	$30,714	$38,935	$14,460	15th of 19
20	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 16 graduates a year	$30,171	$34,959	$26,123	4th of 6
21	Mental Health and Addiction ServicesAbout 13 graduates a year	$29,779	$36,589	$19,078	2nd of 2
22	Computer NetworkingGraduates a year not reported	$27,768	$42,357	Not reported	6th of 6
23	Culinary ArtsAbout 27 graduates a year	$26,927	$33,217	$11,000	3rd of 6
24	Electronics RepairGraduates a year not reported	$24,564	$35,246	$13,164	2nd of 2
25	Design and Applied ArtsAbout 35 graduates a year	$23,345	$32,318	$15,679	4th of 4
26	BiologyAbout 53 graduates a year	$21,288	$37,230	$10,913	7th of 8

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

All 11 certificate programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Texas" compares first-year pay with the same field's certificate programs across Texas. 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 Texas
1	Electromechanical TechnologyAbout 15 graduates a year	$68,052	$71,662	Not reported	1st of 2
2	Electrician TrainingAbout 125 graduates a year	$56,597	$106,862	$8,177	2nd of 5
3	Industrial TechnologyAbout 19 graduates a year	$54,068	Not reported	$9,500	1st of 2
4	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 78 graduates a year	$46,266	Not reported	$8,160	13th of 18
5	Practical NursingAbout 31 graduates a year	$45,955	$51,560	$15,925	18th of 37
6	Welding and MachiningAbout 311 graduates a year	$35,720	$43,861	$8,641	7th of 20
7	Environmental Control TechnologyAbout 34 graduates a year	$33,995	Not reported	$9,500	2nd of 4
8	Vehicle Maintenance and RepairAbout 251 graduates a year	$33,599	$44,695	$7,334	10th of 16
9	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 7 graduates a year	$25,672	Not reported	Not reported	11th of 20
10	Dental Hygiene and AssistingGraduates a year not reported	$24,017	$31,347	$6,584	4th of 8
11	Culinary ArtsAbout 10 graduates a year	$21,144	$29,932	$10,721	6th of 7

2 more certificate programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Quick picks: associate's programs

Highest first-year pay

Nursing$79,324
Electrician Training$76,445
Industrial Technology$64,485
Diagnostic and Treatment Professions$62,718
Electromechanical Technology$59,719

Lowest median debt

Welding and Machining$9,168
Teaching Assistant Training$9,216
Architectural Technology$9,875
Vehicle Maintenance and Repair$10,543
Biology$10,913

Largest programs

Vehicle Maintenance and RepairAbout 288 graduates a year
Electromechanical TechnologyAbout 187 graduates a year
Welding and MachiningAbout 165 graduates a year
Electrician TrainingAbout 134 graduates a year
NursingAbout 92 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $79,324 in their first year, the most of 26 Texas State Technical 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 Texas 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