Associate's · Madison, Wisconsin

Is Design and Applied Arts at Madison Area Technical 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 in time: graduates typically recover the cost in about 5.2 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $43,010; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $51,037; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $15,125; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $30k (likely $25k – $36k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $10k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in WI; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 5.2 years (likely 3.5–8.8); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$34k (likely −$88k – $26k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $117k (likely −$10k – $255k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 41%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in: not reported / ≤ 20%; NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20