Human Services at Mount Wachusett Community College

The small sample size here demands caution, but the pattern is troubling: graduates earn just $22,370 in their first year—landing in the 5th percentile nationally and 25th in Massachusetts. That's $9,000 below the state median and nearly $10,000 below the national average for human services associates. Even four years out, when earnings climb to $26,072, graduates remain well behind their peers at other Massachusetts community colleges like Quinsigamond, where median earnings exceed $36,000.

The silver lining is debt. At $8,312, Mount Wachusett keeps borrowing minimal—half the state median and less than a third of the national average. With a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.37, graduates can realistically manage these loans even on entry-level human services salaries. The 17% earnings growth also suggests some upward mobility, though starting from such a low baseline matters.

For parents, this is a high-risk proposition unless your child already has connections in the local human services sector or plans to continue their education. The low debt won't offset years of earning $6,000-$10,000 less annually than peers from other Massachusetts programs. If your student is committed to human services, investigate why this program's outcomes lag so far behind—it could be the local job market in Gardner, or it might reflect program quality issues that a small sample size is masking.