Which Kansas liberal arts and general studies program has the lowest debt?

Independence Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $7,302, with first-year pay of $23,620.

How much do liberal arts and general studies graduates earn in Kansas?

The median across 18 Kansas liberal arts and general studies associate's programs is $26,131 in the first year after graduating and $40,999 five years after.

Liberal Arts and General Studies (Associate's) Programs in Kansas, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Q: How many liberal arts and general studies associate's programs are in Kansas?

18 Kansas programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 18 of them also report federal debt.

18 programs report first-year pay
18 also report federal debt
Associate's in Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Kansas liberal arts and general studies associate's program pays its graduates $26,131 in their first year, $1,009 less than the national median. Washburn University reports the highest first-year pay ($39,468), and Independence Community College the lowest median debt ($7,302).

Median first-year pay$26,131National $27,139

Median pay after 5 years$40,999National $40,284

Median federal debt$9,500National $10,864

Debt-to-earnings35%National 38%

All 18 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Washburn UniversityTopeka · public	$39,468	Not reported	$19,750	50%
2	Kansas City Kansas Community CollegeKansas City · public	$35,955	$42,136	$8,000	22%
3	Wichita StateWichita · public	$30,331	$43,177	$24,694	81%
4	Johnson County Community CollegeOverland Park · public	$29,855	$44,956	$9,700	32%
5	Butler Community CollegeEl Dorado · public	$29,761	$38,300	$12,000	40%
6	Coffeyville Community CollegeCoffeyville · public	$28,357	$36,884	$8,000	28%
7	Neosho County Community CollegeChanute · public	$27,437	$40,999	$8,600	31%
8	Fort Scott Community CollegeFort Scott · public	$27,303	$38,124	$9,638	35%
9	Hutchinson Community CollegeHutchinson · public	$26,151	$44,139	$8,750	33%
10	Garden City Community CollegeGarden City · public	$26,110	$38,987	$8,400	32%
11	Cowley County Community CollegeArkansas City · public	$25,966	$39,566	$8,000	31%
12	Barton County Community CollegeGreat Bend · public	$25,863	$43,503	$10,000	39%
13	Allen County Community CollegeIola · public	$25,323	$39,161	$8,596	34%
14	Independence Community CollegeIndependence · public	$23,620	$31,582	$7,302	31%
15	Colby Community CollegeColby · public	$23,240	Not reported	$9,000	39%
16	Highland Community College (Kansas)Highland · public	$22,909	Not reported	$11,000	48%
17	Labette Community CollegeParsons · public	$22,095	$35,106	$11,500	52%
18	Cloud County Community CollegeConcordia · public	$21,686	$41,226	$8,250	38%

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

Debt and first-year pay at every Kansas liberal arts and general studies program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Kansas medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 18 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Washburn University$39,468
Kansas City Kansas Community College$35,955
Wichita State$30,331
Johnson County Community College$29,855
Butler Community College$29,761

Lowest median debt

Independence Community College$7,302
Kansas City Kansas Community College$8,000
Coffeyville Community College$8,000
Cowley County Community College$8,000
Cloud County Community College$8,250

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Common questions

Washburn University in Topeka reports the highest median first-year pay, $39,468. Its median federal debt is $19,750.

Liberal Arts and General Studies (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked728 programs by pay and debt Liberal Arts and General Studies (Bachelor's) programs in Kansas, ranked6 programs by pay and debt

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.
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 Kansas rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the liberal arts and general studies associate's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024