ROI Major

Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services at Southwest Texas Junior College

TX · Associate's Degree · CIP 19.07

Apply Now Data: 2026 release

Executive Summary

Graduates with a Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services degree from Southwest Texas Junior College earn a median salary of $31,398 within five years of graduation. Adjusted for the cost of living in TX, this represents a national purchasing power equivalent of $34,091. 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

$24,580

Typical Career

$31,398

Top Performers

$37,264

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

Debt-to-Income Check

$209

Estimated comfortable monthly loan payment

Typical monthly pay is approximately $2,617. 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

$34,091

Nominal: $31,398 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 $24,129 $31,855 $39,465
5 Years After Graduation $24,580 $31,398 $37,264
10 Years After Graduation $26,136 $32,314 $40,010

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 $31,398 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)
= $31,398 × (1.0 ÷ 0.9210) = $34,091 National Average equivalent.

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

Career Verdict

Graduates of the Human Development, Family Studies, and Related 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 $25,793, which rises to $31,127 after five years and reaches $32,582 after ten years. When adjusted for purchasing power, the five-year salary reflects a national equivalent of $33,796.96, indicating that while initial earnings may be modest, there is potential for growth in real terms as graduates gain experience.

The primary industries for graduates are Health Care & Social Assistance, which employs 78.0% of alumni, followed by Educational Services at 28.1% and another segment of Health Care & Social Assistance at 24.2%. However, the estimated break-even point compared to a high-school-only path exceeds ten years, suggesting that while there are opportunities in these sectors, the return on investment may take significant time to materialize. This indicates that prospective students should weigh their long-term financial goals against the time needed to recoup educational costs.

Compare with Another School

See how the Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services degree at Southwest Texas Junior College stacks up against another institution side-by-side.

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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.