Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities at Orange Coast College

Orange Coast College's Liberal Arts associate program comes with an important caveat: fewer than 30 graduates were tracked, making these numbers less reliable than larger datasets. That said, the pattern here shows extremely low debt ($6,955) paired with below-average starting earnings. First-year graduates earn $24,128—roughly $3,400 less than California's median for this degree and about $3,100 below the national average. Among California's 133 similar programs, this lands at the 40th percentile, meaning 60% of comparable programs show stronger initial outcomes.

The trajectory improves significantly over time, with earnings jumping 53% to reach $36,798 by year four. This growth rate suggests graduates are finding their footing, though even at that level they're earning less than top California community colleges like Santiago Canyon or Diablo Valley, where liberal arts graduates start closer to $35,000-$37,000. The debt burden here is genuinely manageable—representing just 29% of first-year income—and ranks among the lowest nationally for this degree type.

For a student planning to transfer to a four-year school, this could work as an affordable stepping stone. But if this associate degree is the endpoint, recognize you're looking at several years of very modest earnings before reaching livable wages, and even then, this program underperforms its in-state peers by a notable margin.