ROI Major

Health and Medical Administrative Services at Coastal Bend College

TX · Associate's Degree · CIP 51.07

Apply Now Data: 2026 release

Executive Summary

Graduates with a Health and Medical Administrative Services degree from Coastal Bend College earn a median salary of $34,840 within five years of graduation. Adjusted for the cost of living in TX, this represents a national purchasing power equivalent of $37,828. The degree typically pays for itself in over 10 years.

Quick Insights

Slow Burn / High Debt Risk

How this degree looks at a glance

A fast read on salary range, break-even speed, living-cost impact, and where graduates from this school usually land.

Salary Ranges

Starting Range

$26,197

Typical Career

$34,840

Top Performers

$45,751

Break-even is not clear from the available earnings data.

Debt-to-Income Check

$232

Estimated comfortable monthly loan payment

Typical monthly pay is approximately $2,903. Most students can comfortably afford about a $232 monthly loan payment with this degree.

Comparison Bench

This degree earns 0.9x more than the average US high school graduate and 0.4x more than the average college graduate.

Purchasing Power Context

A dollar in Texas buys what costs $0.92 nationally.

Industry Breadcrumbs

Top industries for bachelor's graduates from this school: Health Care & Social Assistance, Educational Services, Retail Trade.

Where Associate's Graduates from This School Work

Health Care & Social Assistance 31.9%
Educational Services 16.5%
Retail Trade 8.0%

Institution-wide industry mix for graduates, 5 years after graduation. This is not major-specific. Source: Census PSEO Flows.

5-Year Median Salary — National Purchasing Power Equivalent

$37,828

Nominal: $34,840 in Texas (COL 92.1% of national avg) · 8.6% higher purchasing power

10-Year Earnings Curve

Break-Even Timeline

How long until cumulative earnings advantage exceeds total college investment (tuition + opportunity cost vs. entering workforce directly after high school).

>10 years (extrapolated) to break even
Graduation 15 years

Total Investment

$155,168

4yr tuition + 4yr opportunity cost

HS Graduate Baseline

$38,792/yr

BLS 2023 median, HS diploma

View Raw Data: Median Earnings by Year
Timeframe 25th Pct. Median (50th) 75th Pct.
1 Year After Graduation $21,791 $26,837 $36,805
5 Years After Graduation $26,197 $34,840 $45,751
10 Years After Graduation $28,622 $37,247 $48,213

Source: US Census Bureau Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO), 2025 release. Earnings shown for Bachelor's degree graduates (all cohorts combined).

How We Calculate Purchasing Power

The median salary of $34,840 is reported by the US Census Bureau's Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) dataset for graduates working in TX, which has a cost-of-living index of 92.1% of the national average.

Formula: Adjusted Salary = Nominal × (1.0 ÷ COL Index)
= $34,840 × (1.0 ÷ 0.9210) = $37,828 National Average equivalent.

COL index source: BLS Regional Consumer Price Index & MIT Living Wage Project, 2023. Full methodology →

Career Verdict

Graduates of the Health and Medical Administrative Services program at Coastal Bend College can expect a gradual increase in earnings over time. The median earnings one year after graduation stand at $26,837, which rises to $34,840 after five years and reaches $37,247 after ten years. When adjusted for purchasing power, the five-year salary equivalent nationally is approximately $37,828.45, indicating that while initial earnings may be modest, there is potential for growth in real income over the long term.

The primary industries that graduates enter are predominantly in Health Care & Social Assistance, comprising 36.5% and 31.9% of the workforce, followed by Educational Services at 16.5%. Given the estimated break-even point of more than ten years compared to a high-school-only path, the return on investment for this degree may take considerable time to materialize. Prospective students should weigh these factors carefully when considering their career trajectory in this field.

Compare with Another School

See how the Health and Medical Administrative Services degree at Coastal Bend College stacks up against another institution side-by-side.

Ready to apply?

Start your application for Health and Medical Administrative Services at Coastal Bend College.

Apply to Coastal Bend College

Explore More

Other Degrees at Coastal Bend College

Data sources: US Census Bureau Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO). Cost-of-living index: BLS Regional CPI & MIT Living Wage Project. Cost of attendance: IPEDS. For informational use only; data may be suppressed for small cohort sizes.