Medical Laboratory Science (Certificate) Programs in Louisiana, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

  • 5 programs report first-year pay
  • 5 also report federal debt
  • Certificate in Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Louisiana medical laboratory science certificate program pays its graduates $18,674 in their first year, $13,310 less than the national median. Fortis College-Baton Rouge reports the highest first-year pay ($29,714), and Infinity College the lowest median debt ($6,333).

Median first-year pay$18,674National $31,984
Median pay after 5 years$29,349National $35,035
Median federal debt$10,824National $11,084
Debt-to-earnings40%National 35%

All 5 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.

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

Debt and first-year pay at every Louisiana medical laboratory science program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

"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 medical laboratory science, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians

$54,460

Median pay in Louisiana. 3,790 people work in this job in Louisiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 20,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $33,140Top 10%: $84,720

Phlebotomists

$36,120

Median pay in Louisiana. 3,410 people work in this job in Louisiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 18,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.

Bottom 10%: $29,770Top 10%: $47,120

Surgical Technologists

$57,370

Median pay in Louisiana. 2,230 people work in this job in Louisiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.

Bottom 10%: $36,580Top 10%: $74,650

Medical Equipment Preparers

$35,960

Median pay in Louisiana. 620 people work in this job in Louisiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $27,880Top 10%: $50,440

Common questions

Fortis College-Baton Rouge in Baton Rouge reports the highest median first-year pay, $29,714. Its median federal debt is $10,522.

Related pages

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 Louisiana rankings when their main campus is in another state.
  • Medians are across the medical laboratory science certificate 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