The 25 highest-paying associate degrees based on starting salaries

The latest national data show that while overall college enrollment remains far below its pre-pandemic level, community college enrollment is beginning to see a slight turnaround.

According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (NSCRC), there were 25,000 fewer undergraduate students nationwide in spring 2023 than a year earlier, a decline of about .2%.

But at community colleges, the trend was different: enrollment increased slightly, up 0.5%, equal to about 22,000 more students compared to spring 2022.

That increase suggests that in this post-pandemic period, there may be some movement toward shorter degrees with students showing greater interest in vocationally oriented programs, many of which lead to very good salaries and also happen to be far less expensive than traditional 4-year baccalaureate degrees.

Here we take a look at the return on investment (ROI) on associate degrees, the most common type of credential offered by community colleges.

The 25 best associate degrees based on salaries

Here are the top 25 associate degree programs based on starting salaries.

The “best” associate degrees produce graduates who earn $50,000+

In total, 29 associate-level programs produced graduates with median annual salaries of $50,000 or greater – the 25 above plus:

• Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants ($53,034)
• Civil Engineering Technologies/Technicians ($52,829)
• Engineering Technologies/Technicians, Other ($52,596)
• Electrical/Electronics Maintenance and Repair Technology ($51,617)

This list confirms a trend that’s been apparent for some time. The associate degrees that lead to the best-paying jobs are concentrated in 3 main areas:

1. STEM (Science/Technology/Engineering/Math),
2. Healthcare
3. Construction and infrastructure-related fields

A very similar analysis, with slightly different figures, has also been conducted by Michael Itzkowitz and can be found here.

Why the best-paying associate degrees aren’t always the most popular

Students with degrees in the fields above tend to earn the most on average of any community college graduates 4 years after completing school. One would think that those higher average earnings would translate into an increasing number of students majoring in those fields.

To a certain extent that’s true.

According to the latest enrollment figures from the NSCRC, community college enrollments in the following fields have increased enough in the past 2-3 years to push the numbers of students above pre-pandemic levels:

• computer science
• science technologies
• construction trades

But, of course, future earnings are not the only thing that matters, nor should they be, when it comes to the majors that students choose. In fact, some of the most lucrative majors have seen large enrollment drops in recent years.

For example, enrollments in health professions majors have declined by about 13% between 2019 and 2022; engineering technology enrollments dropped 20% during that same time period; and engineering majors decreased by 19%.

In addition, although the majority of students consistently indicate that their main motive for attending college is to prepare for a good career, they don’t necessarily equate a good career simply with a job that pays them well.

Twice as many community college students are enrolled in liberal arts, general studies, and humanities programs than any other major, despite the fact that these degree programs don’t immediately result in high-paying jobs.

In many cases, students have enrolled in these programs with the intention of transferring to a 4-year college to complete their degrees in a broad array of fields, leading to many different careers. Some of those careers may yield relatively high pay, but others do not.

Best of the rest: associate degrees with $40,000+ earnings

If we go down the list and consider the annual earnings associated with other majors, we find 39 more associate degree programs from which graduates are earning a median of $40,000 or more annually, a reasonably good salary for individuals at the start of their careers.

Most of these majors fall into the same broad areas as above – STEM, healthcare, and construction and maintenance-related trades.

However, we also see new areas represented, particularly in various forms of specialized professional services. For example:

• Funeral and mortuary science graduates earn a median of $42,460.
• Students who graduate from public relations, advertising and applied communication are averaging $44,746.
• Homeland security graduates are making a median of $41,780.
• Education majors, most of whom we can assume are eventually entering the teaching profession, often after completing a later 4-year program, are averaging $40,770.

Final thoughts

In the end, the value of an associate degree, just like any other college credential, can be evaluated in several ways. The economic return (ROI), as measured by annual earnings, is one important consideration, and for many students, it’s the decisive factor in their choice of major.

That’s why we focus on those outcomes in our own ranking of institutions. But for other students, their choice of what school to attend and what field to major in is influenced by more than money. They choose to study what they are interested in most, answering their curiosity and following their imagination, regardless of the financial remuneration they might receive. We applaud those decisions. At the same time, we want to provide the most current information to those students for whom future salary prospects remain an important factor in their college decision-making.