Undergraduate certificate · Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Is Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions at Forsyth Technical Community College worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

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

Pays back slowly: graduates typically recover the cost in about 18.3 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $33,103; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $36,169; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $12,628; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $3k (likely $3k – $4k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: −$505 a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in NC; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 18.3 years (likely 1.7–20+); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$48k (likely −$92k – $10k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: −$40k (likely −$137k – $85k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 45%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26