How much do diagnostic and treatment professions graduates earn in North Carolina?

The median across 22 North Carolina diagnostic and treatment professions associate's programs is $52,277 in the first year after graduating and $56,772 five years after.

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

Q: Which North Carolina diagnostic and treatment professions program has the lowest debt?

Catawba Valley Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $7,125, with first-year pay of $52,273.

Q: How many diagnostic and treatment professions associate's programs are in North Carolina?

22 North Carolina programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 12 of them also report federal debt.

22 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 North Carolina diagnostic and treatment professions associate's program pays its graduates $52,277 in their first year, $2,293 less than the national median. Central Piedmont Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($61,455), and Catawba Valley Community College the lowest median debt ($7,125).

Median first-year pay$52,277National $54,570

Median pay after 5 years$56,772National $59,487

Median federal debt$14,037National $18,592

Debt-to-earnings26%National 34%

All 22 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	Central Piedmont Community CollegeCharlotte · public	$61,455	$57,950	$16,422	27%
2	Edgecombe Community CollegeTarboro · public	$60,003	$56,772	$16,690	28%
3	Pitt Community CollegeWinterville · public	$57,572	$61,502	$11,846	21%
4	Rockingham Community CollegeWentworth · public	$55,849	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
5	Forsyth Technical Community CollegeWinston-Salem · public	$54,726	$62,317	$13,588	25%
6	Robeson Community CollegeLumberton · public	$54,305	$55,504	Not reported	Not reported
7	Carteret Community CollegeMorehead City · public	$53,425	$56,721	Not reported	Not reported
8	Carolinas College of Health SciencesCharlotte · public	$52,467	$57,543	Not reported	Not reported
9	Lenoir Community CollegeKinston · public	$52,345	$61,800	$8,833	17%
10	Caldwell Community College and Technical InstituteHudson · public	$52,283	$57,437	Not reported	Not reported
11	Johnston Community CollegeSmithfield · public	$52,281	$60,530	Not reported	Not reported
12	Catawba Valley Community CollegeHickory · public	$52,273	$55,077	$7,125	14%
13	Wake Technical Community CollegeRaleigh · public	$51,707	$60,517	$17,090	33%
14	Sandhills Community CollegePinehurst · public	$51,685	$56,737	Not reported	Not reported
15	Fayetteville Technical Community CollegeFayetteville · public	$50,872	$54,213	$14,486	28%
16	Rowan-Cabarrus Community CollegeSalisbury · public	$50,837	Not reported	$13,160	26%
17	Vance-Granville Community CollegeHenderson · public	$50,829	$61,439	Not reported	Not reported
18	Southwestern Community College (North Carolina)Sylva · public	$48,233	$51,696	$10,408	22%
19	Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community CollegeAsheville · public	$48,052	$50,727	$21,000	44%
20	Cleveland Community CollegeShelby · public	$45,763	$49,433	Not reported	Not reported
21	Davidson-Davie Community CollegeThomasville · public	$45,172	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
22	Guilford Technical Community CollegeJamestown · public	$45,078	$47,818	$21,721	48%

10 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

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

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

Central Piedmont Community College$61,455
Edgecombe Community College$60,003
Pitt Community College$57,572
Rockingham Community College$55,849
Forsyth Technical Community College$54,726

Lowest median debt

Catawba Valley Community College$7,125
Lenoir Community College$8,833
Southwestern Community College (North Carolina)$10,408
Pitt Community College$11,846
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College$13,160

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.

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

$74,450

Median pay in North Carolina. 9,250 people work in this job in North Carolina. 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%: $52,860Top 10%: $99,210

Emergency Medical Technicians

$44,250

Median pay in North Carolina. 6,680 people work in this job in North Carolina. 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%: $35,190Top 10%: $59,750

Physician Assistants

$129,360

Median pay in North Carolina. 7,490 people work in this job in North Carolina. 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%: $101,100Top 10%: $164,770

Respiratory Therapists

$80,090

Median pay in North Carolina. 4,630 people work in this job in North Carolina. 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%: $63,990Top 10%: $99,520

Common questions

Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte reports the highest median first-year pay, $61,455. Its median federal debt is $16,422.

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 North Carolina 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

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