US College Programs

Diagnostic and Treatment Professions (Associate's) Programs in Kentucky, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

  • 13 programs report first-year pay
  • 12 also report federal debt
  • Associate's in Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Kentucky diagnostic and treatment professions associate's program pays its graduates $47,216 in their first year, $7,354 less than the national median. Elizabethtown Community and Technical College reports the highest first-year pay ($60,430), and Elizabethtown Community and Technical College the lowest median debt ($8,250).

Median first-year pay$47,216National $54,570
Median pay after 5 years$53,249National $59,487
Median federal debt$15,144National $18,592
Debt-to-earnings27%National 34%

All 13 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.

Gateway Community and Technical College reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Kentucky diagnostic and treatment professions program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 12 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

  1. Elizabethtown Community and Technical College$60,430
  2. Bluegrass Community and Technical College$55,982
  3. Sullivan University$54,178
  4. Jefferson Community and Technical College$53,898
  5. Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College$50,513

Lowest median debt

  1. Elizabethtown Community and Technical College$8,250
  2. Hazard Community and Technical College$9,367
  3. Somerset Community College$11,281
  4. Owensboro Community and Technical College$11,500
  5. West Kentucky Community and Technical College$11,879

Lowest debt for the pay

  1. Elizabethtown Community and Technical College14%
  2. Hazard Community and Technical College20%
  3. Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College24%
  4. Owensboro Community and Technical College24%
  5. Somerset Community College25%

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

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to diagnostic and treatment professions, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Radiologic Technologists and Technicians

$69,670

Median pay in Kentucky. 3,630 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 13,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.

Bottom 10%: $51,740Top 10%: $99,170

Emergency Medical Technicians

$36,800

Median pay in Kentucky. 2,770 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 13,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.

Bottom 10%: $29,800Top 10%: $49,950

Physician Assistants

$120,760

Median pay in Kentucky. 1,360 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 21% from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $79,550Top 10%: $161,820

Respiratory Therapists

$72,750

Median pay in Kentucky. 2,530 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.

Bottom 10%: $58,330Top 10%: $92,540

Common questions

Elizabethtown Community and Technical College in Elizabethtown reports the highest median first-year pay, $60,430. Its median federal debt is $8,250.

Related pages

Diagnostic and Treatment Professions (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked496 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 Kentucky rankings when their main campus is in another state.
  • Medians are across the diagnostic and treatment professions 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

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024