Studies find that associate's degrees often yield bigger salaries than four-year degrees

A new study examining the average salaries of graduates in five states showed that students who earn associate’s degrees and occupational certificates often earn more in their first year out of college than those with four-year degrees. 

The states involved in the College Measures study were Arkansas, Colorado, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, but Montana statistics tell a similar story.

According to the most recent Montana University System work-force development study from 2010-11, the percentage of graduates entering the work-force within one year of graduation is 85 percent for those with an associate’s degree, the highest of all degrees covered.   

Montana associate’s degree holders also had a higher starting salary than those with bachelor’s degrees, with an average of $30,237, compared to a $27,181 salary for those who had earned a bachelor’s degree. 

The Montana study said that of the 690 associate’s degree recipients employed from the 2009-10 graduating group, 298 of those earned health-care-related degrees for an average annual salary of $34,899.

Brad Eldredge, Flathead Valley Community College’s executive director of Institutional Research, Assessment and Planning, said FVCC studies show its health-care field graduates following this trend.

“Overall with our Allied Health program, these students make really good wages right out of the gate,” he said. “Radiologic technicians, paramedics, surgical technicians, nursing — there’s a demand for these folks.”

Though some of those highly competitive programs are technically two-year courses of study, Eldredge said that three years is a more realistic expectation for finishing the degrees — still quicker and more economical than a typical bachelor’s degree.

“What you study can matter more than what level of degree you get, in some cases,” Eldredge said.

This was shown prominently through the College Measures study in Texas, as those who graduated with technical associate’s degrees earned over $11,000 more on average in their first year after graduation than those with four-year degrees.

Surveying, electrical technology and information technology graduates from FVCC are also well-served financially by their degrees, Eldredge said. And he emphasized that the monetary worth of some two-year degrees doesn’t show up immediately after graduation, but builds over time.

“Sometimes in a particular field you will start low, but you have a chance to move up,”  he said. “Looking at wages that first year out is good, but for some degrees it takes a while to reach full potential.”

Schools such as FVCC are also getting more attention as concerns rise about student debt in the United States, Eldredge said. 

“Policy-makers are looking at ways that students can be trained and graduate without a lot of debt,” he said. “Two-year colleges are the obvious route to do that.”

College Measures, a partnership between the American Institutes for Research and Matrix Knowledge Group, aims to improve the decision-making process for students, parents and policy-makers for a more efficient and productive higher education system.

“The findings challenge some conventional wisdom, showing for example that what you study matters more than where you study,” said Mark Schneider, president of College Measures. “Higher education is one of the most important investments people make. The right choices can lead to good careers and good wages while the wrong ones can leave graduates with mountains of debt and poor prospects for ever paying off student loans.”

Schneider said states tend to put a lot of money into the flagship universities, the best-known research institutions in each state. 

But the College Measures study indicates state legislators should focus more attention and funding on community colleges, which “can represent a good way for residents of a state to get the training that they need to get into the local labor market and earn a reasonable wage.”

Schneider said that regional four-year public colleges should also take a cue from community colleges and think more about how they can best train students to fill the needs of local job markets.

FVCC has been doing just that, aiming to provide students with skills that match the local labor force, Eldredge said. The $3 million advanced manufacturing grant secured in October 2012 has led to an advanced manufacturing certificate program, with tracks for electronic technicians, machinists, industrial maintenance technicians and manufacturing management. 

This is the second semester of manufacturing classes at FVCC.

“It’s an example of where we really did look at the labor information, and really tried to work with employers so that graduates would be a good match for local jobs,” he said. “We’re seeing good enrollments in those programs, that’s exciting.”