American University Finance (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Finance and Financial Management Services
- Private nonprofit university
- Washington, DC
- About 65 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
American University finance graduates earn more than graduates of most finance programs nationally, $83,505 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $22,625 in federal loans, close to the national median of $23,250. One other District of Columbia program reports higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The District of Columbia and national columns are the medians across all finance bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, American University graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the District of Columbia median.
Debt and first-year pay at every District of Columbia finance program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the District of Columbia medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 24% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned more in their first year than other graduates. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $240 a month, or 3.4% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
Prices in the Washington area are about 9% above the national average, so a $83,505 salary here buys what about $76,692 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to finance, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
General and Operations Managers
$168,000Median pay in District of Columbia. 36,150 people work in this job in District of Columbia. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 285,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Financial Managers
$188,880Median pay in District of Columbia. 8,930 people work in this job in District of Columbia. 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.
Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents
$72,010Median pay in District of Columbia. 1,500 people work in this job in District of Columbia. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 35,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Financial and Investment Analysts
$105,780Median pay in District of Columbia. 3,670 people work in this job in District of Columbia. 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.
About American University
Finance ranks 1st of 25 bachelor's programs at American University by first-year earnings. The top three are Finance ($83,505), Business Administration ($58,299), and Economics ($58,151).
Other finance bachelor's programs near Washington
Common questions
The median graduate earns $83,505 one year after graduating and $103,137 five years after. The median across finance bachelor's programs in District of Columbia is $81,074.
The median federal loan balance is $22,625, which ranks 4th lowest of 5 finance bachelor's programs in District of Columbia. That works out to about $240 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 27% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 44%.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of District of Columbia comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the finance program.
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
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024