---
title: Is a Business Administration, Management and Operations degree worth the debt?
cip: 5202
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release)
sourceId: src:doe:college-scorecard:field-of-study:2026-06-10
---

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

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **1,188** colleges (1,188 of 1,188 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $41,056 ($41,937 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $23,500 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.56× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $36,588–$46,655 — the program you choose moves the number this much.


**How to read this:** these are MEDIANS across college programs, measured **1–2 years after completion** (early career, graduates only) — NOT lifetime earnings, and NOT comparable to a college's 10-years-after-entry figure. They cover **federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report**; small programs are suppressed. A field median is not a prediction of your outcome, not causal (who enters a field differs by field), and **not a "best majors" ranking** — earnings are one dimension of worth. Verify by field at the official College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/).

## By degree level

| Level | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt | Debt/pay | Colleges | Programs reporting |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Certificate | $34,642 | $11,000 | 0.37× | 26 | 26/26 |
| Associate's | $29,463 | $14,074 | 0.44× | 409 | 409/409 |
| Bachelor's | $41,056 | $23,500 | 0.56× | 1,188 | 1,188/1,188 |
| Master's | $64,801 | $35,750 | 0.53× | 838 | 838/838 |
| Doctoral | $71,346 | $97,204 | 1.23× | 17 | 17/17 |
| Professional | $124,439 | $48,965 | 0.40× | 5 | 5/5 |
| Grad cert. | $67,937 | $46,692 | 0.69× | 35 | 35/35 |

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

Reflects who enrolls and where, not causal program quality.

| College | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Bismarck State College (ND) | $94,930 | $15,250 |
| University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (MI) | $83,131 | $19,000 |
| City University of Seattle (WA) | $79,719 | $23,209 |
| Carnegie Mellon University (PA) | $78,783 | $23,250 |
| University of Pennsylvania (PA) | $75,634 | $20,348 |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (NC) | $74,938 | $14,239 |
| University of California-Berkeley (CA) | $74,034 | $11,300 |
| Emory University (GA) | $72,076 | $19,500 |
| Maine Maritime Academy (ME) | $71,675 | $27,000 |
| Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ) | $69,349 | $27,000 |
| 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 |
| Georgetown University (DC) | $67,676 | $14,975 |

RECORDED College Scorecard figures + one DERIVED ratio (debt-to-earnings). Informs and compares; not advice on what to major in. Each college's full record: `/education/<slug>`.

Structured data: `/education/fields/business-administration-management-and-operations.jsonld` · `/education/fields/business-administration-management-and-operations.json`