Wanna get paid? See which Winthrop, York Tech, USCL degrees earn the most in 10 years

Give it a decade, and a dance degree from Winthrop University could be worth more than a law enforcement or business one from USC Lancaster. But nurses from USC Lancaster and York Technical College grads who fix heavy industrial equipment are doing well among their former classmates, too.

A new tool from the U.S. Census Bureau offers detailed statistics on how much graduates of area colleges and universities earn. It lists earnings for one, five and 10 years after graduation by state, school and subject, and covers most higher education options in the state.

Winthrop, USC Lancaster and York Tech are listed from the Rock Hill region. Clinton College in Rock Hill, the area’s only HBCU, isn’t in the data set. All schools were included that allowed transcript data through a share agreement, according to the Census Bureau.

Anyone can access the information online using this Census Bureau link or by searching “PSEO” and clicking on the Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes result from the bureau.

What’s the new college earnings info?

Census Bureau researchers often create new, sometimes called experimental, data sets based on their own information or statistics from partner organizations.

The college and university figures match transcripts with a national jobs database to compare earnings and employment by major, education level, school and state. The Census Bureau partnered with state labor market offices and departments of education, plus universities and university systems.

The national data covers 825 schools and about 29% of college graduates. A partnership with the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education means about 86% of graduates in this state are covered. Only Virginia at 87% is higher. North Carolina is one of 13 states whose schools aren’t included.

Across 53 colleges and universities in South Carolina, graduates earn $34,459 one year out of school. In five years it’s $47,780 and 10 years after graduation they’re at $57,898 per year. Those numbers reflect bachelor’s degrees for colleges and universities or associate degrees from technical or two-year schools.

Winthrop, York Tech and USC Lancaster all fall below those figures except first-year-out graduates at York Tech. They make about $1,000 a year more than the state average, but within five years are down 8.9% from the state figure. A decade after graduation, York Tech students earn 15.2% less — almost $9,000 a year — than the statewide number.

Winthrop graduates earn about $4,000 less than people from York Tech a year after graduation, but earn almost the same amount after five years. After 10 years, Winthrop graduates earn almost $3,000 more than York Tech ones. Winthrop grads still earn 10.7% less than the statewide average across all degrees after 10 years, or about $6,200 less.

Compared to the state average., USC Lancaster graduates are down about $5,500 after one year, $8,500 after five years and $11,500 after a decade.

Below is a breakdown by area school of earnings 10 years after graduation.

Winthrop University

▪ Winthrop lists 26 degree programs that show earnings 10 years after graduation.

▪ The highest earnings come in computer and information sciences ($77,351), chemistry ($75,402) and business administration/management/operations ($62,589). The lowest earnings are in music ($42,660), social work ($43,384) and linguistic/comparative/related language studied ($44,350).

▪ At $59,199 public relations, advertising and applied communication ranks No. 4. That degree ranks well ahead of No. 9 biology ($56,071), No. 11 math ($52,804) and No. 20 psychology ($47,697) among many others. It’s also higher than the related communication and media studies ($48,861) at No. 16.

▪ Three teaching degrees average $48,631. A dance degree, at No. 18, earns $48,254.

▪ Winthrop began as a school for teachers. The average for three teaching programs is 11.5% higher —about $5,000 — than a general education degree statewide.

▪ A computer and information sciences degree, the top-earning one at Winthrop, makes about 7.4% less than the statewide average for the same degree. It’s a difference of about $6,100. A chemistry degree at Winthrop earns .6% more than the state average. Business administration degrees from Winthrop earn 1% more than the state average.

▪ The most prevalent industries for graduates after 10 years are educational services (29%), healthcare/social assistance (13%) and finance/insurance (9%).

York Technical College

▪ York Tech shows 18 associate degrees with earning figures a decade after graduation.

▪ Heavy industrial equipment maintenance tops York Tech earnings at $66,382. Next are registered nursing ($64,476) and computer engineering ($60,212). On the opposite end are human development/family studies ($26,328), business operations support ($36,819) and general business/commerce ($41,989).

▪ Vehicle maintenance ranks No. 8 at $53,964. That’s 7.8% less than No. 5 mechanical engineering but 22% more than No. 13 accounting or No. 14 business administration.

▪ York Tech has the most listed graduates in business/management/marketing (27%), health professions (19%), liberal arts (14%) and engineering (13%). In 10 years, those graduates most often work in healthcare (27%), manufacturing (16%) and retail (9%).

▪ The top two earning degrees, heavy industrial equipment maintenance and registered nursing, are 6.4% and 3.9% lower than those same associate degrees statewide, respectively. Computer engineering at No. 3, though, makes 2.9% more than the state average.

USC Lancaster

▪ USC Lancaster lists four degree programs with 10-year earnings. They are registered nursing ($64,533), criminal justice ($46,837), liberal arts ($44,311) and general business ($38,639).

▪ Apart from the main campus in Columbia, USC Lancaster is the only University of South Carolina system school with more than one degree program listed in its 10-year earnings group.

▪ A criminal justice degree from USC Lancaster results in 10.6% more pay, about $4,500 a year, than the state average for the same associate degree.

▪ Two-thirds of listed USC Lancaster graduates hold liberal arts degrees. Then it’s health professions (13%), business (12%) and law enforcement (9%). In 10 years those graduates most work in healthcare (27%), retail (10%), education (9%), public administration (8%), finance/insurance (8%) and manufacturing (8%).