ROI Major

Finance and Financial Management Services at St. Cloud Technical and Community College

MN · Associate's Degree · CIP 52.08

Apply Now Data: 2026 release

Executive Summary

Graduates with a Finance and Financial Management Services degree from St. Cloud Technical and Community College earn a median salary of $45,390 within five years of graduation. Adjusted for the cost of living in MN, this represents a national purchasing power equivalent of $48,236. The degree typically pays for itself in 12.4 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

$38,623

Typical Career

$45,390

Top Performers

$57,991

Estimated break-even: 12.4 years.

Debt-to-Income Check

$303

Estimated comfortable monthly loan payment

Typical monthly pay is approximately $3,783. Most students can comfortably afford about a $303 monthly loan payment with this degree.

Comparison Bench

This degree earns 1.2x more than the average US high school graduate and 0.6x more than the average college graduate.

Purchasing Power Context

A dollar in Minnesota buys what costs $0.94 nationally.

Industry Breadcrumbs

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

Where Associate's Graduates from This School Work

Health Care & Social Assistance 43.2%
Manufacturing 8.2%
Retail Trade 6.8%

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

$48,236

Nominal: $45,390 in Minnesota (COL 94.1% of national avg) · 6.3% higher 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).

12.4 years 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 $29,948 $40,342 $51,223
5 Years After Graduation $38,623 $45,390 $57,991
10 Years After Graduation $53,343 $61,332 $83,086

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 $45,390 is reported by the US Census Bureau's Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) dataset for graduates working in MN, which has a cost-of-living index of 94.1% of the national average.

Formula: Adjusted Salary = Nominal × (1.0 ÷ COL Index)
= $45,390 × (1.0 ÷ 0.9410) = $48,236 National Average equivalent.

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

Career Verdict

Graduates from the Finance and Financial Management Services program at St. Cloud Technical and Community College experience a positive earnings trajectory over time. One year after graduation, median earnings stand at $40,342, which increases to $45,390 after five years and reaches $61,332 after ten years. When adjusted for purchasing power, the five-year salary equivalent nationally is approximately $48,235.92, indicating that graduates can expect a competitive income relative to their peers across the country, despite Minnesota's cost of living index being slightly lower than the national average.

The program's graduates predominantly enter the Health Care & Social Assistance sectors, with 43.2%, 39.2%, and 31.1% of graduates finding employment in these areas, respectively. The estimated break-even point for graduates compared to those with only a high school diploma is approximately 12.4 years, suggesting a reasonable return on investment for students pursuing this path. Overall, the combination of solid earnings potential and stable industry demand supports the viability of a career in finance and financial management services for graduates from this program.

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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.