Which Wisconsin mental health and addiction services program has the lowest debt?

Northwood Technical College reports the lowest median federal debt, $11,518, with first-year pay of $25,557.

How much do mental health and addiction services graduates earn in Wisconsin?

The median across 6 Wisconsin mental health and addiction services associate's programs is $30,288 in the first year after graduating and $38,710 five years after.

Mental Health and Addiction Services (Associate's) Programs in Wisconsin, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Q: How many mental health and addiction services associate's programs are in Wisconsin?

6 Wisconsin programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

6 programs report first-year pay
5 also report federal debt
Associate's in Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Wisconsin mental health and addiction services associate's program pays its graduates $30,288 in their first year, $2,194 less than the national median. Fox Valley Technical College reports the highest first-year pay ($43,548), and Northwood Technical College the lowest median debt ($11,518).

Median first-year pay$30,288National $32,481

Median pay after 5 years$38,710National $37,318

Median federal debt$19,902National $18,561

Debt-to-earnings64%National 63%

All 6 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	Fox Valley Technical CollegeAppleton · public	$43,548	$50,389	Not reported	Not reported
2	Milwaukee Area Technical CollegeMilwaukee · public	$37,325	$37,198	$23,799	64%
3	Northcentral Technical CollegeWausau · public	$32,481	$39,481	$16,759	52%
4	Gateway Technical CollegeKenosha · public	$28,094	Not reported	$22,350	80%
5	Northwood Technical CollegeRice Lake · public	$25,557	$38,710	$11,518	45%
6	Western Technical College (Wisconsin)La Crosse · public	$25,442	$35,912	$17,454	69%

Fox Valley Technical College reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Wisconsin mental health and addiction services program

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

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Northwood Technical College$11,518
Northcentral Technical College$16,759
Western Technical College (Wisconsin)$17,454
Gateway Technical College$22,350
Milwaukee Area Technical College$23,799

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 mental health and addiction services, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$59,280

Median pay in Wisconsin. 5,710 people work in this job in Wisconsin. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 33,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $44,400Top 10%: $80,900

Healthcare Social Workers

$66,910

Median pay in Wisconsin. 3,770 people work in this job in Wisconsin. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035, with about 16,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $50,280Top 10%: $91,040

Psychiatric Technicians

$40,290

Median pay in Wisconsin. 4,430 people work in this job in Wisconsin. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 22% from 2025 to 2035, with about 17,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $32,560Top 10%: $84,760

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

$61,860

Median pay in Wisconsin. 1,880 people work in this job in Wisconsin. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $45,430Top 10%: $87,690

Common questions

Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton reports the highest median first-year pay, $43,548.

Mental Health and Addiction Services (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked35 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 Wisconsin rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the mental health and addiction services 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