Which William Rainey Harper College associate's program has the lowest debt?

Liberal Arts and General Studies graduates leave with a median of $7,500 in federal loans, the lowest among 4 William Rainey Harper College associate's programs that report debt.

How much does William Rainey Harper College cost?

In-district tuition and fees are $3,894 a year, and $11,874 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $11,607 a year.

How many William Rainey Harper College programs report graduate pay?

8 associate's programs and 6 certificate programs at William Rainey Harper College report first-year pay, and 8 of them also report federal debt.

William Rainey Harper College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Public college
Palatine, IL
9,313 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

8 William Rainey Harper College associate's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($70,929), and Biological and Physical Sciences the least ($27,081). The median program pays $47,621. William Rainey Harper College also has 6 certificate programs that report pay.

In-district tuition and fees$3,894Per year. Out-of-state $11,874

Average net price after aid$11,607Per year

Graduation rate48%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 Illinois" compares first-year pay with the same field's associate's programs across Illinois. 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 Illinois
1	NursingAbout 82 graduates a year	$70,929	$79,071	$15,000	6th of 34
2	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 55 graduates a year	$65,443	$81,281	$16,525	1st of 19
3	Business AdministrationAbout 47 graduates a year	$59,982	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 6
4	Dental Hygiene and AssistingAbout 24 graduates a year	$56,767	$59,677	Not reported	6th of 9
5	Criminal JusticeAbout 17 graduates a year	$38,474	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 5
6	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 26 graduates a year	$31,454	$45,209	Not reported	2nd of 3
7	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 1,093 graduates a year	$27,619	$46,636	$7,500	18th of 41
8	Biological and Physical SciencesAbout 440 graduates a year	$27,081	$49,656	$8,250	10th of 23

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

All 6 certificate programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Illinois" compares first-year pay with the same field's certificate programs across Illinois. 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 Illinois
1	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 35 graduates a year	$64,113	Not reported	$11,159	1st of 6
2	Paralegal StudiesAbout 11 graduates a year	$43,980	Not reported	Not reported	3rd of 4
3	Practical NursingAbout 589 graduates a year	$36,528	$54,134	$8,750	16th of 26
4	Allied Health and Medical AssistingAbout 80 graduates a year	$36,111	$65,904	$9,834	2nd of 12
5	Health and Medical AdministrationGraduates a year not reported	$33,090	Not reported	$10,687	2nd of 5
6	AccountingAbout 84 graduates a year	$31,747	Not reported	Not reported	3rd of 3

Quick picks: associate's programs

Highest first-year pay

Nursing$70,929
Diagnostic and Treatment Professions$65,443
Business Administration$59,982
Dental Hygiene and Assisting$56,767
Criminal Justice$38,474

Lowest median debt

Liberal Arts and General Studies$7,500
Biological and Physical Sciences$8,250
Nursing$15,000
Diagnostic and Treatment Professions$16,525

Largest programs

Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 1,093 graduates a year
Biological and Physical SciencesAbout 440 graduates a year
NursingAbout 82 graduates a year
Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 55 graduates a year
Business AdministrationAbout 47 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $70,929 in their first year, the most of 8 William Rainey Harper 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 Illinois 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