ROI Major

Business Administration and Management at Moraine Valley Community College

IL · Associate's Degree · CIP 52.02

Apply Now Data: 2026 release

Executive Summary

Graduates with a Business Administration and Management degree from Moraine Valley Community College earn a median salary of $49,969 within five years of graduation. Adjusted for the cost of living in IL, this represents a national purchasing power equivalent of $54,432. The degree typically pays for itself in 11.2 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

$37,973

Typical Career

$49,969

Top Performers

$68,058

Estimated break-even: 11.2 years.

Debt-to-Income Check

$333

Estimated comfortable monthly loan payment

Typical monthly pay is approximately $4,164. Most students can comfortably afford about a $333 monthly loan payment with this degree.

Comparison Bench

This degree earns 1.3x more than the average US high school graduate and 0.6x more than the average college graduate.

Purchasing Power Context

A dollar in Illinois 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 27.8%
Educational Services 11.7%
Retail Trade 8.6%

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

$54,432

Nominal: $49,969 in Illinois (COL 91.8% of national avg) · 8.9% 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).

11.2 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 $28,807 $40,622 $53,391
5 Years After Graduation $37,973 $49,969 $68,058
10 Years After Graduation $44,153 $62,571 $90,933

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 $49,969 is reported by the US Census Bureau's Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) dataset for graduates working in IL, which has a cost-of-living index of 91.8% of the national average.

Formula: Adjusted Salary = Nominal × (1.0 ÷ COL Index)
= $49,969 × (1.0 ÷ 0.9180) = $54,432 National Average equivalent.

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

Career Verdict

Graduates of the Business Administration and Management program at Moraine Valley Community College can expect a steady increase in earnings over time. The median earnings one year after graduation stand at $40,622, which rises to $49,969 after five years and reaches $62,571 a decade post-graduation. When adjusted for purchasing power, the five-year salary equivalent nationally is approximately $54,432.46, indicating that graduates can maintain a competitive standard of living despite the cost of living index in Illinois being slightly lower than the national average.

The program's graduates predominantly enter the Health Care & Social Assistance sectors, with 31.8%, 31.1%, and 27.8% of them finding roles in these industries. The estimated break-even point compared to a high-school-only path is approximately 11.2 years, suggesting that while the initial investment in education may take over a decade to recoup, the long-term financial benefits and career opportunities in growing fields like health care can provide a favorable return on investment for students pursuing this degree.

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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.