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

LaGuardia Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $5,500, with first-year pay of $21,713.

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

The median across 46 New York liberal arts and general studies associate's programs is $23,613 in the first year after graduating and $39,461 five years after.

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

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

46 New York programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 42 of them also report federal debt.

46 programs report first-year pay
42 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 New York liberal arts and general studies associate's program pays its graduates $23,613 in their first year, $3,526 less than the national median. Maria College of Albany reports the highest first-year pay ($60,857), and LaGuardia Community College the lowest median debt ($5,500).

Median first-year pay$23,613National $27,139

Median pay after 5 years$39,461National $40,284

Median federal debt$11,000National $10,864

Debt-to-earnings44%National 38%

All 46 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	Maria College of AlbanyAlbany · private nonprofit	$60,857	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
2	Excelsior UniversityAlbany · private nonprofit	$50,464	$53,789	$9,196	18%
3	Touro UniversityNew York · private nonprofit	$30,786	$43,752	$10,500	34%
4	SUNY Westchester Community CollegeValhalla · public	$30,417	$60,719	$8,764	29%
5	Hudson Valley Community CollegeTroy · public	$28,464	$39,628	$10,046	35%
6	Columbia-Greene Community CollegeHudson · public	$28,342	$39,421	$11,000	39%
7	Sullivan County Community CollegeLoch Sheldrake · public	$27,874	$43,907	$11,000	39%
8	Kingsborough Community CollegeBrooklyn · public	$27,831	$38,711	$8,115	29%
9	Nassau Community CollegeGarden City · public	$27,510	$45,358	$9,500	35%
10	SUNY College of Technology at AlfredAlfred · public	$27,450	$38,869	$15,250	56%
11	Suffolk County Community CollegeSelden · public	$26,874	$44,789	$8,000	30%
12	SUNY Corning Community CollegeCorning · public	$26,679	$39,586	$12,000	45%
13	SUNY MorrisvilleMorrisville · public	$26,602	$36,272	$17,058	64%
14	Bronx Community CollegeBronx · public	$26,251	$42,941	$7,000	27%
15	Clinton Community CollegePlattsburgh · public	$25,319	$38,867	$11,521	46%
16	Monroe Community CollegeRochester · public	$25,252	$40,641	$11,000	44%
17	Medgar Evers CollegeBrooklyn · public	$24,861	$49,519	$6,888	28%
18	Tompkins Cortland Community CollegeDryden · public	$24,591	$40,132	$12,000	49%
19	North Country Community CollegeSaranac Lake · public	$24,113	Not reported	$12,000	50%
20	Ulster County Community CollegeStone Ridge · public	$24,015	$39,058	$8,750	36%
21	Jamestown Community CollegeJamestown · public	$23,757	$37,196	$9,280	39%
22	BMCCNew York · public	$23,669	$38,920	$8,057	34%
23	Mohawk Valley Community CollegeUtica · public	$23,618	Not reported	$11,100	47%
24	Erie Community CollegeBuffalo · public	$23,608	$35,615	$10,090	43%
25	College of Staten IslandStaten Island · public	$23,549	$51,878	$9,000	38%
26	SUNY Broome Community CollegeBinghamton · public	$23,351	$38,314	$12,000	51%
27	Jefferson Community CollegeWatertown · public	$23,245	$41,458	$12,000	52%
28	SUNY College of Technology at DelhiDelhi · public	$23,039	$33,691	$14,250	62%
29	Finger Lakes Community CollegeCanandaigua · public	$22,999	$37,763	$11,000	48%
30	Onondaga Community CollegeSyracuse · public	$22,966	$37,263	$10,950	48%
31	Niagara County Community CollegeSanborn · public	$22,942	$39,501	$11,500	50%
32	Farmingdale State CollegeFarmingdale · public	$22,443	$49,966	$11,000	49%
33	Hostos Community CollegeBronx · public	$22,344	$41,025	$6,549	29%
34	Dutchess Community CollegePoughkeepsie · public	$22,095	$37,926	$11,000	50%
35	Genesee Community CollegeBatavia · public	$22,079	$35,371	$10,064	46%
36	Rockland Community CollegeSuffern · public	$21,840	$45,271	$8,390	38%
37	LaGuardia Community CollegeLong Island City · public	$21,713	$39,896	$5,500	25%
38	Fulton-Montgomery Community CollegeJohnstown · public	$21,482	$38,784	$10,999	51%
39	Stella and Charles Guttman Community CollegeNew York · public	$21,272	$31,636	Not reported	Not reported
40	Orange County Community CollegeMiddletown · public	$20,630	$41,983	$10,625	52%
41	Queensborough Community CollegeBayside · public	$19,582	$39,305	$8,450	43%
42	Herkimer County Community CollegeHerkimer · public	$19,395	$36,279	$11,000	57%
43	City TechBrooklyn · public	$18,360	$41,596	$11,144	61%
44	SUNY College of Technology at CantonCanton · public	$17,143	$36,597	$14,750	86%
45	Houghton UniversityHoughton · private nonprofit	$14,467	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
46	Bard CollegeAnnandale-On-Hudson · private nonprofit	$13,221	$22,547	Not reported	Not reported

Maria College of Albany, Stella and Charles Guttman Community College, Houghton University, and Bard College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. 2 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 42 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Maria College of Albany$60,857
Excelsior University$50,464
Touro University$30,786
SUNY Westchester Community College$30,417
Hudson Valley Community College$28,464

Lowest median debt

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

Maria College of Albany in Albany reports the highest median first-year pay, $60,857.

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 New York, ranked22 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 New York 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