ROI Major

Business Operations Support and Assistant Services at Three Rivers College

MO · Associate's Degree · CIP 52.04

Apply Now Data: 2026 release

Executive Summary

Graduates with a Business Operations Support and Assistant Services degree from Three Rivers College earn a median salary of $31,660 within five years of graduation. Adjusted for the cost of living in MO, this represents a national purchasing power equivalent of $35,493. 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

$24,722

Typical Career

$31,660

Top Performers

$40,342

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

Debt-to-Income Check

$211

Estimated comfortable monthly loan payment

Typical monthly pay is approximately $2,638. Most students can comfortably afford about a $211 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 Missouri buys what costs $0.89 nationally.

Industry Breadcrumbs

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

Where Associate's Graduates from This School Work

Health Care & Social Assistance 38.4%
Educational Services 15.4%
Manufacturing 7.3%

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

$35,493

Nominal: $31,660 in Missouri (COL 89.2% of national avg) · 12.1% 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 $22,199 $26,852 $33,607
5 Years After Graduation $24,722 $31,660 $40,342
10 Years After Graduation $22,439 $28,703 $37,729

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 $31,660 is reported by the US Census Bureau's Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) dataset for graduates working in MO, which has a cost-of-living index of 89.2% of the national average.

Formula: Adjusted Salary = Nominal × (1.0 ÷ COL Index)
= $31,660 × (1.0 ÷ 0.8920) = $35,493 National Average equivalent.

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

Compare with Another School

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Other Degrees at Three Rivers 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.