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

Cape Cod Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $6,749, with first-year pay of $23,563.

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

The median across 14 Massachusetts liberal arts and general studies associate's programs is $31,329 in the first year after graduating and $42,465 five years after.

How many liberal arts and general studies associate's programs are in Massachusetts?

14 Massachusetts programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 14 of them also report federal debt.

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

14 programs report first-year pay
14 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 Massachusetts liberal arts and general studies associate's program pays its graduates $31,329 in their first year, $4,190 more than the national median. Harvard University reports the highest first-year pay ($40,995), and Cape Cod Community College the lowest median debt ($6,749).

Median first-year pay$31,329National $27,139

Median pay after 5 years$42,465National $40,284

Median federal debt$9,375National $10,864

Debt-to-earnings30%National 38%

All 14 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	Harvard UniversityCambridge · private nonprofit	$40,995	Not reported	$20,126	49%
2	Bunker Hill Community CollegeBoston · public	$38,348	$50,103	$9,585	25%
3	Massachusetts Bay Community CollegeWellesley Hills · public	$37,790	$43,639	$8,750	23%
4	Quinsigamond Community CollegeWorcester · public	$33,524	$41,949	$14,250	43%
5	North Shore Community CollegeDanvers · public	$33,353	$48,997	$9,000	27%
6	Northern Essex Community CollegeHaverhill · public	$31,549	$43,911	$9,969	32%
7	Middlesex Community CollegeBedford · public	$31,451	$45,804	$7,928	25%
8	Bristol Community CollegeFall River · public	$31,206	$39,414	$8,250	26%
9	Springfield Technical Community CollegeSpringfield · public	$30,413	$44,584	$8,734	29%
10	Mount Wachusett Community CollegeGardner · public	$28,600	$37,114	$11,000	38%
11	Massasoit Community CollegeBrockton · public	$28,529	$36,241	$9,375	33%
12	Holyoke Community CollegeHolyoke · public	$25,779	$39,908	$8,995	35%
13	Cape Cod Community CollegeWest Barnstable · public	$23,563	$42,588	$6,749	29%
14	Berkshire Community CollegePittsfield · public	$18,571	$39,261	$14,048	76%

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

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 14 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Harvard University$40,995
Bunker Hill Community College$38,348
Massachusetts Bay Community College$37,790
Quinsigamond Community College$33,524
North Shore Community College$33,353

Lowest median debt

Cape Cod Community College$6,749
Middlesex Community College$7,928
Bristol Community College$8,250
Springfield Technical Community College$8,734
Massachusetts Bay Community College$8,750

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

Harvard University in Cambridge reports the highest median first-year pay, $40,995. Its median federal debt is $20,126.

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 Massachusetts, ranked12 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 Massachusetts 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