Louisiana·Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations·SOC 19-4099

Best Life programs in Louisiana, ranked by enrollment

All life, physical, and social science technicians not listed.

22 schools in Louisiana run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,047 people a year. The job pays a median of $53,360 in Louisiana across about 1,610 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledResearch AssociateGeospatial ExtractorMeteorologist LiaisonLab Technician (Lab Tech)Digital Cartographic TechnicianQuality Control Technician (QC Tech)QA Auditor (Quality Assurance Auditor)QA Tech (Quality Assurance Technician)
Graduates / yr
1,047
in Louisiana
Median pay · Louisiana
$53,360
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,610
people employed
Schools
22
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
37%
across those schools
Median net price
$22,092
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Louisiana that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

6 programs in Louisiana that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Louisiana (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Louisiana page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 43.0104In Louisiana
957
91.4%
20$37,408$24,069
2
CIP 45.0401In Louisiana
63
6.0%
1$37,366$25,000
3
CIP 43.0406In Louisiana
13
1.2%
1$40,889$25,000
4
CIP 40.0401In Louisiana
6
0.6%
1$41,430$25,500
5
CIP 41.0000In Louisiana
5
0.5%
1$71,144$10,229
6
CIP 43.0402In Louisiana
3
0.3%
1$40,889$25,000

Top 22 schools in Louisiana

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 15 of the 22 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Grambling State University
Grambling, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
165Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$23,04636%45%
2Southern University and A & M College
Baton Rouge, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
112Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$32,49927%35%
3Bossier Parish Community College
Bossier City, LA Public · 2 feeder programs
93Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$32,31815%
4Southeastern Louisiana University
Hammond, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
90Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$35,02445%99%
5Southern University at New Orleans
New Orleans, LA Public · 2 feeder programs
69Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$33,49413%79%
6Loyola University New Orleans
New Orleans, LA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
63Criminology$35,57859%$22,90693%
7Louisiana State University at Alexandria
Alexandria, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
62Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$39,91734%92%
8McNeese State University
Lake Charles, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
55Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$34,17847%78%
9University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Lafayette, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
52Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$35,87253%87%
10University of Louisiana at Monroe
Monroe, LA Public · 2 feeder programs
48Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$36,31354%85%
11SOWELA Technical Community College
Lake Charles, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
42Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$23,83243%
12Northwestern State University of Louisiana
Natchitoches, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
39Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$30,55943%93%
13South Louisiana Community College
Lafayette, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
28Criminal Justice/Safety Studies30%
14Baton Rouge Community College
Baton Rouge, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
26Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$36,06631%
15Dillard University
New Orleans, LA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
25Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$26,74443%$18,82642%
16Louisiana State University - Shreveport
Shreveport, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
20Criminal Justice/Safety Studies38%51%
17Louisiana Delta Community College
Monroe, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
19Criminal Justice/Safety Studies30%
18Nicholls State University
Thibodaux, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
11Criminal Justice/Safety Studies54%91%
19Louisiana Christian University
Pineville, LA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
10Criminal Justice/Safety Studies44%$16,97177%
20River Parishes Community College
Gonzales, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
7Criminal Justice/Safety Studies30%
21Herzing University - New Orleans
Metairie, LA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
6Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$67,22915%$22,09292%
22Delgado Community College
New Orleans, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
5Science Technologies/Technicians, General24%

All 22 schools in Louisiana

Every school in Louisiana with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Louisiana that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Grambling State UniversityGramblingPublic1651
Southern University and A & M CollegeBaton RougePublic1121
Bossier Parish Community CollegeBossier CityPublic932
Southeastern Louisiana UniversityHammondPublic901
Southern University at New OrleansNew OrleansPublic692
Loyola University New OrleansNew OrleansPrivate not-for-profit631
Louisiana State University at AlexandriaAlexandriaPublic621
McNeese State UniversityLake CharlesPublic551
University of Louisiana at LafayetteLafayettePublic521
University of Louisiana at MonroeMonroePublic482
SOWELA Technical Community CollegeLake CharlesPublic421
Northwestern State University of LouisianaNatchitochesPublic391
South Louisiana Community CollegeLafayettePublic281
Baton Rouge Community CollegeBaton RougePublic261
Dillard UniversityNew OrleansPrivate not-for-profit251

What life, physical, and social science technicians, all other earn in Louisiana

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Louisiana
$53,360
Mean annual
$59,020
Jobs in state
1,610
What the range looks like
10th pct$38,300Median$53,36090th pct$85,350
Versus the national median
-14.3%

U.S. median $62,280. Louisiana pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.75×

Concentrated here: Louisiana employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Louisiana

Shreveport-Bossier City, LA
$64,400median
50 jobs
Baton Rouge, LA
$53,360median
580 jobs
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA
$57,160median
30 jobs
Lafayette, LA
$49,280median
150 jobs
New Orleans-Metairie, LA
$46,760median
570 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+3.5%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
10,600
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
2,900
83,200 → 86,200
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other page.

How to become a Life

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

Reading ComprehensionMonitoringCritical ThinkingActive ListeningSpeakingWriting

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Louisiana

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 12 majors mapped to Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other12 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 40.0401Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, General
  • 40.1001Materials Science
  • 40.1002Materials Chemistry
  • 41.0000Science Technologies/Technicians, General
  • 41.0303Chemical Process Technology
  • 41.0399Physical Science Technologies/Technicians, Other
  • 41.9999Science Technologies/Technicians, Other
  • 43.0100Criminal Justice and Corrections, General
  • 43.0104Criminal Justice/Safety Studies
  • 43.0402Criminalistics and Criminal Science
  • 43.0406Forensic Science and Technology
  • 45.0401Criminology

Common questions

Answers for people weighing life, physical, and social science technicians, all other programs in Louisiana.

What degree do you need to become a Life?+

Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Criminal Justice/Safety Studies, which awarded 957 degrees in Louisiana in 2024-25, 91.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Life?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Criminal Justice and Corrections, Criminology, Security Science and Technology, Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 1,047 people a year in Louisiana.

How much do life, physical, and social science technicians, all other earn in Louisiana?+

The median is $53,360 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 14.3% below the U.S. median of $62,280. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for life, physical, and social science technicians, all other growing?+

BLS projects a +3.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 10,600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Louisiana?+

22 institutions in Louisiana reported graduates from at least one of the 6 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do life, physical, and social science technicians, all other work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Research Associate, Geospatial Extractor, Meteorologist Liaison, Lab Technician (Lab Tech), Digital Cartographic Technician, Quality Control Technician (QC Tech) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-4099.

Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other in other statesTexasCaliforniaFloridaGeorgiaVirginiaNorth CarolinaArizonaIndiana

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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