Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions at San Jacinto Community College

The earnings trajectory here is unusual and worth understanding. Graduates earn $49,631 in their first year—slightly above both state and national medians for this program—but then see earnings drop to $39,923 by year four. This 20% decline is the opposite of what you'd expect from career progression and suggests graduates may be working part-time initially, changing careers, or leaving clinical work for other reasons. That pattern makes it hard to project long-term value.

With estimated debt around $19,700 based on comparable associate degree programs at similar colleges, the first-year picture looks manageable—a 0.40 debt-to-earnings ratio is reasonable for healthcare training. The actual outcomes could be better or worse than this estimate since the program's graduate pool is too small for the Department of Education to report debt figures. Still, many Texas programs in this field carry similar debt loads, and first-year earnings at San Jacinto track closely with programs like Austin Community College and Houston Community College.

The declining earnings pattern is the real concern. If your child plans to work full-time as a medical laboratory technician long-term, you'll want to understand why earnings might drop rather than grow. Talk directly with the program about job placement specifics—where graduates work, typical schedules, and whether they tend to stay in clinical roles. An associate degree in lab science can be solid training, but only if it leads to stable employment in the field.