ROI Major

Business, Management, and Marketing, Other at Gateway Community College

CT · Associate's Degree · CIP 52.99

Data: 2026 release

Executive Summary

Graduates with a Business, Management, and Marketing, Other degree from Gateway Community College earn a median salary of $57,799 within five years of graduation. Adjusted for the cost of living in CT, this represents a national purchasing power equivalent of $50,129. The degree typically pays for itself in 8.4 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

$42,313

Typical Career

$57,799

Top Performers

$79,126

Estimated break-even: 8.4 years.

Debt-to-Income Check

$385

Estimated comfortable monthly loan payment

Typical monthly pay is approximately $4,817. Most students can comfortably afford about a $385 monthly loan payment with this degree.

Comparison Bench

This degree earns 1.5x more than the average US high school graduate and 0.7x more than the average college graduate.

Purchasing Power Context

A dollar in Connecticut buys what costs $1.15 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 42.1%
Educational Services 11.6%
Retail Trade 7.8%

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

$50,129

Nominal: $57,799 in Connecticut (COL 115.3% of national avg) · 13.3% lower 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).

8.4 years 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 $33,590 $49,620 $67,066
5 Years After Graduation $42,313 $57,799 $79,126
10 Years After Graduation $49,366 $69,028 $90,553

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 $57,799 is reported by the US Census Bureau's Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) dataset for graduates working in CT, which has a cost-of-living index of 115.3% of the national average.

Formula: Adjusted Salary = Nominal × (1.0 ÷ COL Index)
= $57,799 × (1.0 ÷ 1.1530) = $50,129 National Average equivalent.

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

Career Verdict

Graduates from the Business, Management, and Marketing program at Gateway Community College can expect a solid earnings trajectory. Median earnings one year after graduation stand at $55,817, increasing to $62,322 five years post-graduation, and reaching $67,254 after ten years. However, considering the cost of living index in Connecticut (1.153), the purchasing-power-adjusted five-year salary is approximately $54,052.04, indicating that while nominal earnings grow, the real value may be impacted by regional economic conditions.

The primary industries for graduates are predominantly within Health Care & Social Assistance, with 42.1% entering this sector shortly after graduation. This trend continues with 41.2% and 22.1% of graduates remaining in the same field over subsequent years. The estimated break-even point compared to a high-school-only path is approximately 7.1 years, suggesting that while the program offers a reasonable return on investment, graduates should consider the long-term benefits of their degree against the backdrop of industry demand and salary growth.

Compare with Another School

See how the Business, Management, and Marketing, Other degree at Gateway Community College stacks up against another institution side-by-side.

Explore More

Other Degrees at Gateway Community 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.