Undergraduate certificate · Tempe, Arizona

Is Business Operations Support and Assistant Services at Rio Salado College worth it?

High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 1.2 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $46,783; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $53,851; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $4,625; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $6k (likely $6k – $9k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $14k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in AZ; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 1.2 years (likely 0.9–1.6); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $86k (likely $55k – $121k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $272k (likely $181k – $372k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 10%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26