Associate's · Big Stone Gap, Virginia

Is Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities at Mountain Empire 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 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $29,859; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $40,228; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: Not enough borrowers to report; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $17k (likely $17k – $23k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $706 a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in VA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 18 years (likely 8.4–20+); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$110k (likely −$155k – −$68k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: −$77k (likely −$166k – $28k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 56%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26