College Scorecard · field of study · all U.S. colleges

Is a Business Administration, Management and Operations degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 1,188 colleges (1,188 of 1,188 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$41,056

Graduates only, early career.$41,937 two years out.

Median federal debt

$23,500

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

0.56×

56% of a first year's earnings.

Typical debt is under a year's early-career pay.

The college you pick moves this a lot

The middle 50% of Bachelor's programs in Business Administration, Management and Operations report early-career pay between $36,588 and $46,655 — a spread of $10,067 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $36,588 median $41,056 75th pct $46,655

By degree level

Each level is a separate decision — more schooling usually means more pay and more debt.

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay

Certificate 26 colleges $34,642 $11,000 0.37×

Associate's 409 colleges $29,463 $14,074 0.44×

Bachelor's 1,188 colleges $41,056 $23,500 0.56×

Master's 838 colleges $64,801 $35,750 0.53×

Doctoral 17 colleges $71,346 $97,204 1.23×

Professional 5 colleges $124,439 $48,965 0.40×

Grad cert. 35 colleges $67,937 $46,692 0.69×

Where a Bachelor's in this field reports the highest early-career pay

The 15 programs with the highest reported pay one year after completion. This reflects who enrolls and where they live as much as the program itself — it is not a causal quality ranking.

Bismarck State College ND $94,930 $15,250 debt

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI $83,131 $19,000 debt

City University of Seattle WA $79,719 $23,209 debt

Carnegie Mellon University PA $78,783 $23,250 debt

University of Pennsylvania PA $75,634 $20,348 debt

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NC $74,938 $14,239 debt

University of California-Berkeley CA $74,034 $11,300 debt

Emory University GA $72,076 $19,500 debt

Maine Maritime Academy ME $71,675 $27,000 debt

Stevens Institute of Technology NJ $69,349 $27,000 debt

Northeastern University MA $68,843 —

Northeastern University Professional Programs MA $68,843 —

Wentworth Institute of Technology MA $68,729 —

Golden Gate University CA $67,879 $31,250 debt

Georgetown University DC $67,676 $14,975 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Business Administration, Management and Operations, from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. It is not a prediction of what you would earn (your college, effort, and local job market vary enormously — see the spread above), not lifetime earnings (it is measured 1–2 years after completion, early career), not proof the major caused the outcome (who enters a field differs by field — selection, not causation), and not a "best majors" ranking: earnings are one dimension of worth, not the whole of it. Teaching and social work pay far less than the fields at the top of this list and matter enormously. Earnings cover federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report.

Also available: structured data (JSON-LD) · plain text · JSON. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release). · explore this field on the official Scorecard