ROI Major

Business Operations Support and Assistant Services at Southwest Texas Junior College

TX · Associate's Degree · CIP 52.04

Apply Now Data: 2026 release

Executive Summary

Graduates with a Business Operations Support and Assistant Services degree from Southwest Texas Junior College earn a median salary of $31,275 within five years of graduation. Adjusted for the cost of living in TX, this represents a national purchasing power equivalent of $33,958. The degree typically pays for itself in 736.2 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

$23,230

Typical Career

$31,275

Top Performers

$44,737

Estimated break-even: 736.2 years.

Debt-to-Income Check

$209

Estimated comfortable monthly loan payment

Typical monthly pay is approximately $2,606. Most students can comfortably afford about a $209 monthly loan payment with this degree.

Comparison Bench

This degree earns 0.8x 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: Educational Services, Health Care & Social Assistance, Retail Trade.

Where Associate's Graduates from This School Work

Educational Services 28.1%
Health Care & Social Assistance 24.2%
Retail Trade 9.2%

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

$33,958

Nominal: $31,275 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).

736.2 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 $19,941 $26,890 $36,032
5 Years After Graduation $23,230 $31,275 $44,737
10 Years After Graduation $29,520 $39,092 $53,767

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 $31,275 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)
= $31,275 × (1.0 ÷ 0.9210) = $33,958 National Average equivalent.

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

Career Verdict

Graduates of the Business Operations Support and Assistant Services program at Southwest Texas Junior College can expect a gradual increase in earnings over time. The median earnings one year after graduation stand at $26,890, rising to $31,275 after five years and reaching $39,092 after ten years. When adjusted for purchasing power, the five-year salary aligns more closely with a national equivalent of $33,957.65, reflecting the cost of living in Texas, which has a COL index of 0.921 compared to the national average of 1.0.

The primary industries that graduates enter include Health Care & Social Assistance, Educational Services, and a notable portion also remains within Health Care & Social Assistance. With 78.0% of graduates entering the health sector and 28.1% in education, there is a clear demand for skills in these areas. However, the estimated break-even point versus a high-school-only path is approximately 736.2 years, indicating a long-term return on investment that may not be favorable in the short term. This suggests that while the program provides valuable skills, students should carefully consider their career goals and the economic landscape before committing.

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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.