---
title: Is a Physical Science Technologies/Technicians degree worth the debt?
cip: 4103
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release)
sourceId: src:doe:college-scorecard:field-of-study:2026-06-10
---

# Is a Physical Science Technologies/Technicians degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Associate's**, across **16** colleges (16 of 16 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $53,698 ($59,338 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $11,180 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.22× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $47,709–$60,608 — the program you choose moves the number this much.


**How to read this:** these are MEDIANS across college programs, measured **1–2 years after completion** (early career, graduates only) — NOT lifetime earnings, and NOT comparable to a college's 10-years-after-entry figure. They cover **federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report**; small programs are suppressed. A field median is not a prediction of your outcome, not causal (who enters a field differs by field), and **not a "best majors" ranking** — earnings are one dimension of worth. Verify by field at the official College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/).

## By degree level

| Level | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt | Debt/pay | Colleges | Programs reporting |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Associate's | $53,698 | $11,180 | 0.22× | 16 | 16/16 |

## Where a Associate's in this field reports the highest early-career pay

Reflects who enrolls and where, not causal program quality.

| College | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lee College (TX) | $72,395 | $8,225 |
| Delta College (MI) | $63,832 | — |
| SUNY Corning Community College (NY) | $63,135 | — |
| Lamar State College-Orange (TX) | $61,066 | $10,787 |
| Kilgore College (TX) | $60,455 | $14,417 |
| Del Mar College (TX) | $58,503 | $5,375 |
| San Jacinto Community College (TX) | $54,753 | $9,750 |
| Texas State Technical College (TX) | $54,148 | $9,084 |
| Wharton County Junior College (TX) | $53,249 | $14,000 |
| College of the Mainland (TX) | $52,999 | $11,529 |
| Alvin Community College (TX) | $51,149 | — |
| Lamar Institute of Technology (TX) | $48,095 | $13,769 |
| Houston City College (TX) | $46,552 | $16,784 |
| BridgeValley Community & Technical College (WV) | $44,322 | — |
| Ashland Community and Technical College (KY) | $41,874 | $11,180 |

RECORDED College Scorecard figures + one DERIVED ratio (debt-to-earnings). Informs and compares; not advice on what to major in. Each college's full record: `/education/<slug>`.

Structured data: `/education/fields/physical-science-technologies-technicians.jsonld` · `/education/fields/physical-science-technologies-technicians.json`