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Grand Total, All Reporting Institutions
Associate's Degree (Occupational/Technical Credit)
Wage Outcomes


Also known as a "Career Technical" degree. Typically we have information on approximately 80% of the graduates of the career technical associate degree with about 60% being identified as being employed in Virginia at a full-time wage employment level. Even though the degree is not designed for transfer, it is not unusual for 8-10% of these graduates to transfer into bachelor programs. This has been especially true in nursing programs and programs design specifically for these graduates.

Programs in this category of degree award include Business Administration, Computer and Information Sciences, Criminal Justice, various Engineering Technology subjects,Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance, Nursing, Physical Therapy, Radiation Technology, and Veterinary Assistants. This is just a sampling of fields of study that make it possible for modern society to exist.



Wage Outcomes, 2020 Calendar Year
Grand Total, All Reporting Institutions, Associate's Degree (Occupational/Technical Credit)
Earnings in 2020Median WagePercentage of Graduates w/ Reported Wage
20 Years (1999-00 Graduates) $56,59948%
15 Years (2004-05 Graduates) $54,63053%
10 Years (2009-10 Graduates) $54,04057%
8 Years (2011-12 Graduates) $49,83660%
5 Years (2014-15 Graduates) $45,98864%
3 Years (2016-17 Graduates) $44,40768%
18 Months (2018-19 Graduates) $43,11469%
Only years/programs meeting disclosure rules will be displayed to protect individual confidentiality.

Wages in 2020
Years Post-Completion10th Percentile25th PercentileMedian75th Percentile90th Percentile
80% of graduates with full-time wages fall within this range
20 Years (1999-00 Graduates) $19,167$35,073$56,599$84,108$113,215
15 Years (2004-05 Graduates) $20,212$34,723$54,630$78,994$105,105
10 Years (2009-10 Graduates) $21,558$35,278$54,040$74,244$97,332
8 Years (2011-12 Graduates) $20,032$33,353$49,836$70,398$92,249
5 Years (2014-15 Graduates) $17,796$30,748$45,988$63,046$79,803
3 Years (2016-17 Graduates) $17,072$29,287$44,407$61,915$77,583
18 Months (2018-19 Graduates) $14,745$27,744$43,114$59,038$71,927

As reminder, the median value represents the very middle value of the sample of values (wage or debt) sorted from low to high. This value is found in the middle line of the barcharts.
The remaining values in the chart are constructed similarly, to display how wages and earnings are distributed. Thus, while the median tells us the middle wage, the values for the 25th and 75th percentiles tell us that half of the graduates with wages fall between those two values. Likewise, 80% of reported wages fall between the 10th and 90th percentiles. The length of each bar section clue to the dispersion in the data - that is, how much earnings can vary within a range a group of individuals.
Top 10 Largest Programs at Associate's Degree (Occupational/Technical Credit) Level, 2020 Median Wages Three Years Post-Completion
InstitutionProgram TitleMedian Wage
Northern Virginia Community CollegeRegistered Nursing/Registered Nurse (513801)$66,172
J Sargeant Reynolds Community CollegeRegistered Nursing/Registered Nurse (513801)$60,508
Tidewater Community CollegeRegistered Nursing/Registered Nurse (513801)$59,199
Tidewater Community CollegeCriminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration (430103)$33,604
Germanna Community CollegeRegistered Nursing/Registered Nurse (513801)$64,134
Brightpoint Community CollegeRegistered Nursing/Registered Nurse (513801)$61,553
Northern Virginia Community CollegeCriminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration (430103)$45,048
Piedmont Virginia Community CollegeRegistered Nursing/Registered Nurse (513801)$62,034
Tidewater Community CollegeBusiness Operations Support and Secretarial Services, Other (520499)$28,083
Tidewater Community CollegeComputer and Information Sciences, General (110101)$45,816

NOTE: Fewer than 10 programs may be displayed if they disclosure rules for providing wage outcome data are not met.
Top 25 Programs by Enrollment
Top 25 Programs by Degrees Awarded


Graduate Debt
Associate's Degree (Occupational/Technical Credit)
Student Loans



Known Debt at Graduation of Student Borrowers
Year% of grads25th PercentileMedianEstimated Payment on Median DebtMean75th Percentile
2017-1839%$7,303$15,152$161$18,767$26,369
2018-1939%$6,935$15,019$159$19,099$26,922
2019-2038%$6,859$14,500$154$18,482$25,743
2020-2137%$6,930$15,000$159$19,259$26,476
2021-2236%$6,432$13,475$143$18,026$25,728

Note: The four-year bachelor’s degree mean and median debt levels reported on this site may differ from that reported by individual institutions. Many institutions report indebtedness based on the Common Data Set definition, which limits the indebtedness level reported to include only those students who entered the institution as first-time in college (FTIC) students. The inclusion of graduates who entered as transfer students may tend to lower the overall mean or median debt level because it does not include any debt that transfer students acquired while attending previous institutions outside Virginia and relatively few transfers from Virginia’s two-year colleges incur debt prior to transfer. Repayment estimates assume a standard 10-year repayment rate, and a 5% interest rate for undegraduate loans (for which multiple interest rates exist) and 6.8% for graduate and professional programs. Borrowers with federal loans may be eligible for Income Driven Repayment, which may result in lower payments.


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