Which Texas physical science technology program has the lowest debt?

Del Mar College reports the lowest median federal debt, $7,000, with first-year pay of $56,948.

How much do physical science technology graduates earn in Texas?

The median across 12 Texas physical science technology associate's programs is $54,260 in the first year after graduating and $110,839 five years after.

Physical Science Technology (Associate's) Programs in Texas, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Q: How many physical science technology associate's programs are in Texas?

12 Texas programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 11 of them also report federal debt.

12 programs report first-year pay
11 also report federal debt
Associate's in Physical Science Technologies/Technicians

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Texas physical science technology associate's program pays its graduates $54,260 in their first year, the same as the national median. Lee College reports the highest first-year pay ($94,986), and Del Mar College the lowest median debt ($7,000).

Median first-year pay$54,260National $54,260

Median pay after 5 years$110,839National $95,450

Median federal debt$11,959National $11,417

Debt-to-earnings24%National 24%

All 12 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	Lee CollegeBaytown · public	$94,986	$122,708	$9,598	10%
2	Kilgore CollegeKilgore · public	$68,335	$59,154	$17,208	25%
3	Houston City CollegeHouston · public	$60,612	$63,218	$21,740	36%
4	San Jacinto Community CollegePasadena · public	$59,496	$87,629	$10,000	17%
5	Del Mar CollegeCorpus Christi · public	$56,948	$110,976	$7,000	12%
6	Alvin Community CollegeAlvin · public	$54,543	$119,471	$7,839	14%
7	Lone Star College SystemThe Woodlands · public	$53,976	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
8	Lamar State College-OrangeOrange · public	$49,932	$103,271	$12,000	24%
9	College of the MainlandTexas City · public	$49,694	$133,394	$10,500	21%
10	Wharton County Junior CollegeWharton · public	$45,277	$122,746	$16,625	37%
11	Texas State Technical CollegeWaco · public	$42,769	Not reported	$11,959	28%
12	Lamar Institute of TechnologyBeaumont · public	$42,539	$110,839	$15,500	36%

Lone Star College System reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Texas physical science technology program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 11 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

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.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to physical science technology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders

$60,150

Median pay in Texas. 20,880 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 13,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $36,230Top 10%: $106,230

Chemical Technicians

$62,580

Median pay in Texas. 6,090 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.

Bottom 10%: $43,970Top 10%: $105,650

Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health

$50,710

Median pay in Texas. 3,350 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 5,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.

Bottom 10%: $39,490Top 10%: $78,770

Chemical Plant and System Operators

$102,750

Median pay in Texas. 2,360 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $52,460Top 10%: $124,220

Common questions

Lee College in Baytown reports the highest median first-year pay, $94,986. Its median federal debt is $9,598.

Physical Science Technology (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked14 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 Texas rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the physical science technology 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