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

Biological and Physical Sciences graduates leave with a median of $9,787 in federal loans, the lowest among 19 Tidewater Community College associate's programs that report debt.

How much does Tidewater Community College cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $5,588 a year, and $12,296 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $11,762 a year.

How many Tidewater Community College programs report graduate pay?

21 associate's programs and 18 certificate programs at Tidewater Community College report first-year pay, and 37 of them also report federal debt.

Tidewater Community College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Public college
Norfolk, VA
12,082 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

21 Tidewater Community College associate's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($69,764), and Design and Applied Arts the least ($22,935). The median program pays $30,605. Tidewater Community College also has 18 certificate programs that report pay.

In-state tuition and fees$5,588Per year. Out-of-state $12,296

Average net price after aid$11,762Per year

Graduation rate32%Within 1.5 times the normal program length

All 21 associate's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Virginia" compares first-year pay with the same field's associate's programs across Virginia. 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 Virginia
1	NursingAbout 54 graduates a year	$69,764	$73,293	$22,288	8th of 25
2	EngineeringAbout 51 graduates a year	$68,555	$79,752	$12,250	1st of 2
3	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 85 graduates a year	$62,524	$67,446	$12,530	3rd of 11
4	Vehicle Maintenance and RepairAbout 31 graduates a year	$47,722	$54,590	$11,167	1st of 1
5	Computer and Information ScienceAbout 28 graduates a year	$45,084	$42,942	$11,243	1st of 3
6	Drafting and Design TechnologyAbout 11 graduates a year	$41,114	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 1
7	Funeral Service and Mortuary ScienceAbout 21 graduates a year	$39,431	$66,050	Not reported	2nd of 2
8	Business AdministrationAbout 264 graduates a year	$35,919	$48,451	$11,950	5th of 11
9	Office AdministrationAbout 16 graduates a year	$35,687	$33,092	$22,300	1st of 3
10	Paralegal StudiesAbout 13 graduates a year	$33,677	$40,986	$14,863	4th of 4
11	Biological and Physical SciencesAbout 171 graduates a year	$30,605	$41,396	$9,787	2nd of 6
12	Allied Health and Medical AssistingAbout 54 graduates a year	$29,799	$52,318	$17,601	7th of 8
13	Social SciencesAbout 202 graduates a year	$29,425	$36,694	$11,000	1st of 5
14	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 16 graduates a year	$29,290	$46,627	$15,329	1st of 4
15	AccountingAbout 17 graduates a year	$29,056	$46,559	$11,872	2nd of 2
16	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 600 graduates a year	$27,294	$40,534	$11,000	6th of 20
17	Criminal JusticeAbout 69 graduates a year	$26,013	$43,945	$14,795	4th of 4
18	Culinary ArtsAbout 10 graduates a year	$25,938	$24,232	$20,275	1st of 2
19	Mental Health and Addiction ServicesAbout 23 graduates a year	$23,509	$29,906	$25,000	5th of 5
20	Human Development and Family StudiesAbout 34 graduates a year	$23,239	$28,479	$16,275	2nd of 2
21	Design and Applied ArtsAbout 39 graduates a year	$22,935	$29,918	$12,320	3rd of 3

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

All 18 certificate programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Virginia" compares first-year pay with the same field's certificate programs across Virginia. 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 Virginia
1	Electrical Engineering TechnologyAbout 37 graduates a year	$56,971	Not reported	$14,789	2nd of 4
2	Mechanical Engineering TechnologyAbout 120 graduates a year	$54,461	$60,555	$11,250	1st of 1
3	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 91 graduates a year	$42,572	Not reported	$11,687	4th of 8
4	Business AdministrationAbout 40 graduates a year	$42,521	Not reported	$16,500	3rd of 4
5	Truck Driving and Equipment OperationAbout 75 graduates a year	$39,383	$45,546	$6,464	2nd of 2
6	Medical Laboratory ScienceAbout 29 graduates a year	$37,354	Not reported	$11,856	1st of 3
7	Electrician TrainingAbout 49 graduates a year	$36,232	Not reported	$7,574	3rd of 5
8	Paralegal StudiesAbout 21 graduates a year	$36,150	Not reported	$13,490	1st of 1
9	AccountingAbout 14 graduates a year	$35,597	Not reported	$17,429	1st of 1
10	Vehicle Maintenance and RepairAbout 281 graduates a year	$34,696	Not reported	$7,000	6th of 9
11	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 74 graduates a year	$31,688	Not reported	$14,942	1st of 18
12	Criminal JusticeAbout 54 graduates a year	$27,916	Not reported	$14,795	2nd of 2
13	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 23 graduates a year	$25,738	Not reported	$16,150	4th of 4
14	Welding and MachiningAbout 48 graduates a year	$23,785	$42,294	$8,455	6th of 8
15	Teaching Assistant TrainingAbout 61 graduates a year	$23,117	Not reported	$12,000	1st of 1
16	Human Development and Family StudiesAbout 143 graduates a year	$21,889	Not reported	$11,000	2nd of 5
17	Hospitality ManagementAbout 19 graduates a year	$21,416	Not reported	$19,010	1st of 1
18	Culinary ArtsAbout 14 graduates a year	$21,368	Not reported	$19,066	1st of 2

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

Quick picks: associate's programs

Highest first-year pay

Nursing$69,764
Engineering$68,555
Diagnostic and Treatment Professions$62,524
Vehicle Maintenance and Repair$47,722
Computer and Information Science$45,084

Lowest median debt

Biological and Physical Sciences$9,787
Social Sciences$11,000
Liberal Arts and General Studies$11,000
Vehicle Maintenance and Repair$11,167
Computer and Information Science$11,243

Largest programs

Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 600 graduates a year
Business AdministrationAbout 264 graduates a year
Social SciencesAbout 202 graduates a year
Biological and Physical SciencesAbout 171 graduates a year
Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 85 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $69,764 in their first year, the most of 21 Tidewater 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 Virginia 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