Which accounting certificate program pays the most?

Penn State in Pennsylvania reports the highest first-year pay of the 36 programs ranked here, $67,492. Its median federal debt is $26,499.

How much debt do accounting certificate graduates have?

The median program leaves its graduates with $14,081 in federal debt. Across programs, the median debt is 40% of first-year pay.

Highest-Paying Accounting (Certificate) Programs in the US

36 programs report first-year pay
1 state ranking
Certificate in Accounting and Related Services

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median accounting certificate program in the US pays its graduates $33,922 in their first year and $39,965 five years after. Texas is the only state with enough programs to rank, with a median of $34,667. The median program leaves its graduates with $14,081 in federal debt.

Median first-year pay$33,922Across 36 programs

Median pay after 5 years$39,965Across 40 programs

Median federal debt$14,081Across 36 programs

Debt-to-earnings40%Across 24 programs

All 36 programs, ranked by graduate pay

Each program is ranked by the median pay of its graduates one year after they finished, from College Scorecard. This measures what graduates earn, not how good the teaching is. Pay also depends on where graduates live and work. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	After cost of living	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Penn StateUniversity Park, PA · public	$67,492	Not adjusted	Not reported	$26,499	39%
2	Austin Community College DistrictAustin, TX · public	$62,261	$64,149	$95,949	$21,898	35%
3	Cabrillo CollegeAptos, CA · public	$57,294	$51,747	$46,540	Not reported	Not reported
4	College of DuPageGlen Ellyn, IL · public	$52,724	$52,746	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
5	Rasmussen UniversitySt. Cloud, MN · private for-profit	$47,506	$48,170	Not reported	$13,047	27%
6	Lewis and Clark Community CollegeGodfrey, IL · public	$42,502	$42,520	Not reported	$9,500	22%
7	Davidson-Davie Community CollegeThomasville, NC · public	$41,532	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
8	Dallas CollegeDallas, TX · public	$39,308	$40,500	$51,718	$12,500	32%
9	Hillsborough CollegeTampa, FL · public	$39,076	$37,786	Not reported	$18,445	47%
10	Wake Technical Community CollegeRaleigh, NC · public	$38,258	$40,559	$48,420	$16,592	43%
11	Gateway Technical CollegeKenosha, WI · public	$37,881	$40,258	Not reported	$14,856	39%
12	Ventura Adult and Continuing EducationVentura, CA · public	$37,356	$33,739	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
13	Northcentral Technical CollegeWausau, WI · public	$36,562	$38,856	Not reported	$13,305	36%
14	Interactive College of Technology-ChambleeChamblee, GA · private for-profit	$36,264	$37,660	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
15	Catawba Valley Community CollegeHickory, NC · public	$35,972	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
16	Tidewater Community CollegeNorfolk, VA · public	$35,597	$35,208	Not reported	$17,429	49%
17	Stellar Career CollegeModesto, CA · private for-profit	$35,186	$31,779	$32,850	$7,248	21%
18	Houston City CollegeHouston, TX · public	$34,667	$35,718	Not reported	$14,905	43%
19	York Technical CollegeRock Hill, SC · public	$33,177	$35,389	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
20	EDP SchoolBrooklyn, NY · private nonprofit	$31,996	$29,648	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
21	Spokane Community CollegeSpokane, WA · public	$31,873	$29,784	Not reported	$22,807	72%
22	William Rainey Harper CollegePalatine, IL · public	$31,747	$31,760	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
23	Herzing University-MadisonMadison, WI · private nonprofit	$31,620	Not adjusted	$31,508	$24,252	77%
24	Lone Star College SystemThe Woodlands, TX · public	$31,414	$32,367	Not reported	$6,550	21%
25	Northwood Technical CollegeRice Lake, WI · public	$30,586	$32,505	$39,589	$12,751	42%
26	Delgado Community CollegeNew Orleans, LA · public	$30,393	$34,456	$32,651	$19,500	64%
27	New Professions Technical InstituteMiami, FL · private for-profit	$26,733	$25,850	$32,139	Not reported	Not reported
28	Northeast Iowa Community CollegeCalmar, IA · public	$24,726	$28,174	$35,575	$19,624	79%
29	Ivy Tech Community CollegeIndianapolis, IN · public	$23,271	$24,934	$38,525	$8,333	36%
30	Southern Careers Institute-AustinAustin, TX · private for-profit	$22,081	$22,751	$27,062	$8,507	39%
31	Miller-Motte College-ChattanoogaChattanooga, TN · private for-profit	$20,789	$22,629	$19,954	$9,500	46%
32	Summit CollegeSan Bernardino, CA · private for-profit	$20,055	$18,113	Not reported	$7,177	36%
33	Pinellas Technical College-ClearwaterClearwater, FL · public	$19,904	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
34	Tacoma Community CollegeTacoma, WA · public	$19,762	$18,467	$35,125	$11,054	56%
35	Metropolitan Learning InstituteRego Park, NY · private nonprofit	$18,181	$16,847	$20,390	Not reported	Not reported
36	CET-San JoseSan Jose, CA · private nonprofit	$14,972	$13,522	$23,660	$6,729	45%

Pay after cost of living divides first-year pay by the Bureau of Economic Analysis price level of the school's state, where the US average is 100. It is shown for 31 programs where at least half of the graduates who work are working in the school's state. The other 5, whose graduates mostly work in other states or whose state has no price level, are listed last when you sort by it.

12 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

College Scorecard withholds pay for programs with too few graduates, to protect their privacy, so those programs can't be ranked.

Accounting (Certificate) programs by state

Each row is the median across the state's accounting certificate programs. State names link to the full ranking of that state's programs.

State	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
Texas	5	$34,667	$12,500

Programs in 16 more states and territories report pay, but too few to rank. A state ranking needs at least five programs that report both pay and debt.

Quick picks nationwide

Lowest median debt

Lone Star College System, TX$6,550
Southern Careers Institute-Austin, TX$8,507
Dallas College, TX$12,500
Houston City College, TX$14,905
Austin Community College District, TX$21,898

Lowest debt for the pay

Lone Star College System, TX21%
Dallas College, TX32%
Austin Community College District, TX35%
Southern Careers Institute-Austin, TX39%
Houston City College, TX43%

Only the 5 programs with their own page here are included. "Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to accounting, largest first. Pay is the median across the US and all experience levels.

Accountants and Auditors

$83,680

Median pay in the US. 1,449,500 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 115,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $56,020Top 10%: $144,090

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

$50,670

Median pay in the US. 1,373,680 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 144,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: some college, no degree.

Bottom 10%: $36,000Top 10%: $74,550

Financial Managers

$166,570

Median pay in the US. 841,710 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 65,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $94,310Top 10%: $323,270

Financial and Investment Analysts

$102,740

Median pay in the US. 361,980 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $63,720Top 10%: $180,860

Common questions

The median accounting certificate program in the US pays its graduates $33,922 in their first year and $39,965 five years after.

Accounting (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked636 programs by pay and debt Accounting (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked102 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Medians are across programs, not students: each program counts once, however many graduates it has.
National medians include every program in the 50 states, DC, and US territories, including schools that have since closed. Schools with several campuses that report one combined figure are counted once.
Programs are ranked by College Scorecard median pay one year after graduation. Pay after cost of living uses the price level of the school's state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025. Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024