Business Administration, Management and Operations at Arapahoe Community College

The headline looks strong—graduates earn $49,531 right out of the gate, crushing the national median by nearly $16,000 and landing in the 95th percentile nationally. That's remarkable for an associate degree in business. But the small sample size (under 30 graduates) means these figures could swing considerably year-to-year, and the trajectory tells a more complicated story: earnings drop to $40,475 by year four, an 18% decline that's unusual and concerning.

Within Colorado, this program sits solidly in the middle of the pack at the 60th percentile, slightly ahead of the state median but behind programs at Colorado Christian and Front Range Community College. The $22,144 debt load is actually lower than Colorado's typical $26,625 for business associate programs, making the debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.45 quite manageable initially. However, that falling income pattern could mean graduates are landing well-paying first jobs that don't lead to career advancement, or that many shift into lower-paying roles over time.

For parents, the small sample size is the critical caveat here—these numbers might not represent what your student would actually experience. If the strong first-year earnings hold true and your student can maintain that income trajectory, this could be a solid value. But given the declining pattern and the uncertainty around such limited data, you'd want to dig into where exactly those initial graduates landed and why their earnings dropped so sharply.