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Business Operations Support and Assistant Services at Danville Community College

VA · Associate's Degree · CIP 52.04

Apply Now Data: 2026 release

Executive Summary

Graduates with a Business Operations Support and Assistant Services degree from Danville Community College earn a median salary of $31,802 within five years of graduation. Adjusted for the cost of living in VA, this represents a national purchasing power equivalent of $31,026. The degree typically pays for itself in over 10 years.

Quick Insights

Slow Burn / High Debt Risk

How this degree looks at a glance

A fast read on salary range, break-even speed, living-cost impact, and where graduates from this school usually land.

Salary Ranges

Starting Range

$25,089

Typical Career

$31,802

Top Performers

$38,913

Break-even is not clear from the available earnings data.

Debt-to-Income Check

$212

Estimated comfortable monthly loan payment

Typical monthly pay is approximately $2,650. Most students can comfortably afford about a $212 monthly loan payment with this degree.

Comparison Bench

This degree earns 0.8x more than the average US high school graduate and 0.4x more than the average college graduate.

Purchasing Power Context

A dollar in Virginia buys what costs $1.03 nationally.

Industry Breadcrumbs

Top industries for bachelor's graduates from this school: Health Care & Social Assistance, Educational Services, Manufacturing.

Where Associate's Graduates from This School Work

Health Care & Social Assistance 23.8%
Educational Services 13.5%
Manufacturing 12.6%

Institution-wide industry mix for graduates, 5 years after graduation. This is not major-specific. Source: Census PSEO Flows.

5-Year Median Salary — National Purchasing Power Equivalent

$31,026

Nominal: $31,802 in Virginia (COL 102.5% of national avg) · 2.4% lower purchasing power

10-Year Earnings Curve

Break-Even Timeline

How long until cumulative earnings advantage exceeds total college investment (tuition + opportunity cost vs. entering workforce directly after high school).

>10 years (extrapolated) to break even
Graduation 15 years

Total Investment

$155,168

4yr tuition + 4yr opportunity cost

HS Graduate Baseline

$38,792/yr

BLS 2023 median, HS diploma

View Raw Data: Median Earnings by Year
Timeframe 25th Pct. Median (50th) 75th Pct.
1 Year After Graduation $23,547 $28,456 $34,478
5 Years After Graduation $25,089 $31,802 $38,913
10 Years After Graduation $28,266 $36,039 $45,909

Source: US Census Bureau Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO), 2025 release. Earnings shown for Bachelor's degree graduates (all cohorts combined).

How We Calculate Purchasing Power

The median salary of $31,802 is reported by the US Census Bureau's Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) dataset for graduates working in VA, which has a cost-of-living index of 102.5% of the national average.

Formula: Adjusted Salary = Nominal × (1.0 ÷ COL Index)
= $31,802 × (1.0 ÷ 1.0250) = $31,026 National Average equivalent.

COL index source: BLS Regional Consumer Price Index & MIT Living Wage Project, 2023. Full methodology →

Career Verdict

Graduates from the Business Operations Support and Assistant Services program at Danville Community College experience a varied earnings trajectory. One year after graduation, median earnings stand at $28,969, which increases to $35,940 after five years. However, by the ten-year mark, median earnings drop to $32,705. When adjusted for purchasing power, the five-year salary aligns with a national equivalent of $35,063.41, reflecting the cost of living in Virginia, which has a COL index of 1.025 compared to the national average of 1.0. This indicates that while initial earnings may be promising, long-term financial growth may not be as robust.

The primary industries that graduates enter include Health Care & Social Assistance, which accounts for 40.4%, followed by Manufacturing at 31.2%, and a further 23.8% in Health Care & Social Assistance. The estimated break-even point for graduates compared to those with only a high school diploma exceeds ten years, suggesting a prolonged return on investment. This extended timeline may be a consideration for students weighing the financial benefits of pursuing this program against immediate employment opportunities available with a high school education.

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Data sources: US Census Bureau Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO). Cost-of-living index: BLS Regional CPI & MIT Living Wage Project. Cost of attendance: IPEDS. For informational use only; data may be suppressed for small cohort sizes.