When it comes to college tuition, it seems like you get what you pay for.

Most college graduates face a significant debt load, so being assured of a solid career after graduation to pay off that debt as quickly as possible is a factor to consider when choosing a school.

Tuition costs at several Valley institutions range from $13,000 to more than $40,000 a year, but depending on the availability of financial aid, the average debt load upon graduation, the job students obtain after graduation and a number of other factors, students at either end of the spectrum may get their entire investment back in the same amount of time.

"There are a whole lot of calculations involved," said Edwin Koc, director of strategic and foundational research for the National Association of Colleges and Employers, based in Bethlehem.

For example, the average starting salary for a computer science major is approximately $60,000. If the student paid a total tuition of $160,000 for a computer/Internet technology degree, that amount could be earned back in less than three years.

But only a portion of one's salary typically goes toward paying off debt, Koc said, while the rest goes toward living expenses.

The average national student debt upon graduation is $28,000, and the average starting salary is $42,000.

But the numbers change significantly depending on the graduate's major.

Petroleum engineers are at the top of the list, with an average starting salary of $80,000. They are followed by chemical engineers, computer science majors, mathematics majors, accountants and, finally, liberal arts majors.

Over time, a person with a liberal arts degree can catch up to those earning the bigger salaries right at the start, studies show.

Tuition last year at Bucknell University in Lewisburg was $40,594. Sixty-two percent of students received some financial aid, with the average award of $25,000, while the average graduate's loan debt was $18,800.

"A small number of students are paying the full price," said Tom Evelyn, university spokesman.

The university may have one of the highest tuition rates in the Valley, but it also ranked No. 2 recently among all liberal arts institutions with its graduates obtaining the highest mid-career salaries — an average of $115,000 a year. The average starting salary is $56,100.

A few miles away at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, the tuition is lower — $32,050 last year. Sixty-eight percent of enrolled students demonstrated financial need, according to Helen Nunn, director of financial aid at Susquehanna. The average aid award was $24,827. Of that amount, just more than $19,000 came in the form of scholarships and grants, and the remainder — $5,812 per student — came in the form of student loans and part-time jobs.

May graduates who borrowed from the need-based federal student loan programs borrowed an average of just over $15,000.

According to Nunn, "This would require a monthly repayment amount in the range of $165 over the 10 years of repayment."

Tuition at the Pennsylvania College of Technology, Williamsport, is much less — $13,080 per year.

Grants and federal student loans for a typical student at Penn College total about $12,309, said Dennis Correll, associate dean for admissions and financial aid.

Salaries of graduates from the school have ranged anywhere from $20,000 to $60,000 a year.

"It will depend on the degree focus and where they settle in the country," Correll said. "Larger cities, of course, pay much more for some majors."

The most popular programs at Penn College are in the health, business and construction fields. There is also an increase in interest for the building science and sustainable design majors, due to the growing popularity of "green" careers and the natural gas industry, Correll said.

Financial aid is not only based on a person's income level, said Mike Reiber, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, but also on factors such as how many people in the family are in college at the same time, how many people are living in their residence and whether there was a change in the family's employment status.

"We do encourage everyone to fill out a FAFSA (free application for federal student aid)," Reiber said. "They might be pleasantly surprised."

"If you don't, you just limited your options for everything but scholarships and private loans," he said.

And private loans typically have significantly higher interest rates than federal ones, he added.

Approximately two-thirds of college students receive some sort of financial aid each year.

Another factor to the eligibility of federal financial aid is the cost of the school. Someone applying to a community college may receive less state grant aid than they might by attending a private school.

"Typically, people have turned away from private institutions because the cost may be higher," Reiber said.

But with larger awards in the forms of scholarships and grants from the private institutions themselves, along with federal financial aid, the cost "may not be that bad," he said.

"If they have particular schools they are interested in applying to, they should contact the financial aid office and start asking questions," he said.

For the 2010-11 fiscal year, the commonwealth has provided nearly $400 million in grants to college students.

That's a 3.8 percent drop from last year, Reiber said.

The maximum state grant award will be $3,541, a reduction of about $579. It is expected that the average state grant will be $2,296, and that about 185,000 students will receive some level of state support.

Before entering college and considering all of the financial stresses, however, a local technical school offers some help for high school students who want to be either be a step ahead of the game, or just want to have a good chance at a good career after graduation without attending a higher institution of learning.

SUN Area Technical Institute in New Berlin offers a dual enrollment program with Penn College, which charges $20 per college credit for high school students who want to begin their higher learning a bit early. They can earn up to nine credits through this program.

But if they don't want to attend college, according to Judy Sharer, assistant administrative director, "A student trained in entry-level to advanced skills can go directly into the workforce and earn a sustainable wage for a family."

Fields that offer the highest-paying jobs after graduation include specialized welding, precision machining and electronics technology programs.

n E-mail comments to tpursell@dailyitem.com.