Which Vernon College associate's program has the lowest debt?

Welding and Machining graduates leave with a median of $5,500 in federal loans, the lowest among 3 Vernon College associate's programs that report debt.

How much does Vernon College cost?

In-district tuition and fees are $3,720 a year, and $6,120 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $6,404 a year.

How many Vernon College programs report graduate pay?

3 associate's programs and one certificate program at Vernon College report first-year pay, and all of them also report federal debt.

Vernon College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Public college
Vernon, TX
2,113 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

3 Vernon College associate's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($71,856), and Liberal Arts and General Studies the least ($28,648). The median program pays $32,206. Vernon College also has one certificate program that reports pay.

In-district tuition and fees$3,720Per year. Out-of-state $6,120

Average net price after aid$6,404Per year

Graduation rate21%Within 1.5 times the normal program length

All 3 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 76 graduates a year	$71,856	$76,595	$20,000	25th of 49
2	Welding and MachiningAbout 4 graduates a year	$32,206	$38,602	$5,500	5th of 5
3	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 118 graduates a year	$28,648	$45,700	$12,000	19th of 47

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.

One more associate's program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

One certificate program

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.

Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in Texas
Practical NursingAbout 51 graduates a year	$47,677	$47,674	$9,147	14th of 37

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

One more certificate program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $71,856 in their first year, the most of 3 Vernon 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