Which Appalachian State major has the lowest debt?

Mathematics graduates leave with a median of $17,500 in federal loans, the lowest among 51 Appalachian State bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Appalachian State cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $7,579 a year, and $25,212 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $16,836 a year.

How many Appalachian State programs report graduate pay?

52 bachelor's programs at Appalachian State report first-year pay, and 51 of them also report federal debt.

Appalachian State Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Appalachian State University
Public university
Boone, NC
19,444 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

52 Appalachian State bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($69,420), and Communication Sciences and Disorders the least ($12,383). The median program pays $34,435.

In-state tuition and fees$7,579Per year. Out-of-state $25,212

Average net price after aid$16,836Per year

Graduation rate75%Within 6 years

Admission rate90%Of applicants

All 52 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in North Carolina" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across North Carolina. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in North Carolina
1	NursingAbout 100 graduates a year	$69,420	$76,064	$20,000	19th of 26
2	Computer ScienceAbout 85 graduates a year	$68,675	$102,688	$22,500	6th of 15
3	Construction ManagementAbout 105 graduates a year	$59,809	$76,819	$20,280	1st of 1
4	Management Information SystemsAbout 84 graduates a year	$56,650	$81,612	$23,551	2nd of 3
5	Management ScienceAbout 10 graduates a year	$56,340	Not reported	$24,250	1st of 3
6	AccountingAbout 70 graduates a year	$55,671	$78,158	$23,262	3rd of 19
7	InsuranceAbout 44 graduates a year	$55,611	$80,272	$18,625	1st of 1
8	FinanceAbout 91 graduates a year	$52,004	$88,101	$21,267	4th of 9
9	Environmental Control TechnologyAbout 55 graduates a year	$47,333	Not reported	$23,250	2nd of 2
10	Business AdministrationAbout 251 graduates a year	$44,126	$60,338	$21,497	18th of 37
11	International BusinessAbout 19 graduates a year	$43,989	$79,580	$26,930	2nd of 2
12	Special EducationAbout 20 graduates a year	$43,283	$49,424	$25,000	2nd of 6
13	MarketingAbout 204 graduates a year	$42,999	$59,640	$19,500	7th of 10
14	GeographyAbout 19 graduates a year	$41,648	$67,126	$17,750	3rd of 4
15	Teacher EducationAbout 250 graduates a year	$41,144	$46,027	$21,500	15th of 25
16	Subject-Area Teacher EducationAbout 111 graduates a year	$41,018	$46,827	$21,614	8th of 10
17	MathematicsAbout 36 graduates a year	$40,856	$61,271	$17,500	6th of 9
18	ChemistryAbout 46 graduates a year	$40,488	$61,601	$24,949	4th of 10
19	Food ScienceAbout 3 graduates a year	$38,743	Not reported	Not reported	2nd of 2
20	CommunicationsAbout 52 graduates a year	$38,331	$45,568	$21,500	5th of 20
21	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 51 graduates a year	$37,911	$59,228	$24,125	6th of 9
22	Apparel and TextilesAbout 20 graduates a year	$36,945	$44,820	$26,000	2nd of 3
23	Public Relations and AdvertisingAbout 111 graduates a year	$36,559	$55,221	$21,500	4th of 5
24	Criminal JusticeAbout 143 graduates a year	$35,796	$50,569	$18,750	9th of 24
25	Geology and Earth ScienceAbout 25 graduates a year	$35,021	$52,194	$22,853	5th of 5
26	Design and Applied ArtsAbout 131 graduates a year	$34,722	$54,970	$21,500	5th of 9
27	Public HealthAbout 76 graduates a year	$34,148	$48,531	$20,361	9th of 10
28	EconomicsGraduates a year not reported	$33,742	$66,181	$21,894	7th of 9
29	Hospitality ManagementAbout 30 graduates a year	$33,702	$57,957	$24,323	3rd of 6
30	Social WorkAbout 103 graduates a year	$32,725	$48,164	$22,184	7th of 15
31	DieteticsAbout 55 graduates a year	$31,934	$50,317	$25,025	1st of 3
32	SociologyAbout 40 graduates a year	$31,559	$44,662	$20,606	8th of 14
33	Political ScienceAbout 98 graduates a year	$30,096	$47,799	$21,500	11th of 15
34	Human Development and Family StudiesAbout 39 graduates a year	$30,062	$44,147	$18,935	4th of 5
35	BiologyAbout 165 graduates a year	$29,946	$67,233	$23,000	19th of 28
36	Recreation ManagementAbout 81 graduates a year	$29,646	$39,498	$19,706	4th of 5
37	HistoryAbout 60 graduates a year	$28,454	$39,254	$20,400	7th of 11
38	Arts ManagementAbout 21 graduates a year	$28,357	$46,033	$24,412	3rd of 3
39	Environmental Science and ConservationAbout 104 graduates a year	$27,631	$41,388	$23,125	6th of 8
40	PsychologyAbout 317 graduates a year	$27,484	$42,768	$21,444	21st of 24
41	JournalismAbout 36 graduates a year	$27,116	$48,078	$21,000	2nd of 2
42	Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 255 graduates a year	$24,829	$54,550	$21,000	25th of 30
43	Linguistics and Language StudiesAbout 25 graduates a year	$24,657	Not reported	$23,342	4th of 5
44	Radio, TV, and Digital MediaAbout 53 graduates a year	$23,532	$44,173	$23,250	2nd of 3
45	EnglishAbout 72 graduates a year	$23,397	$37,977	$21,430	12th of 15
46	MusicAbout 12 graduates a year	$23,304	Not reported	$26,000	5th of 6
47	International StudiesAbout 16 graduates a year	$23,073	Not reported	$22,991	3rd of 4
48	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 54 graduates a year	$22,120	$34,209	$21,985	6th of 12
49	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 18 graduates a year	$21,143	Not reported	$24,977	12th of 12
50	TheatreAbout 29 graduates a year	$20,256	$28,084	$24,755	8th of 10
51	AnthropologyAbout 39 graduates a year	$19,624	$40,323	$23,250	10th of 10
52	Communication Sciences and DisordersAbout 73 graduates a year	$12,383	$58,480	$19,875	2nd of 2

Program names link to the program's own page, and North Carolina ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five North Carolina programs in the field do too.

Some nursing bachelor's programs are for nurses who are already licensed and working (RN-to-BSN). College Scorecard counts them with programs for new students, and their graduates' pay reflects years of nursing experience, so high pay at a program here may not mean higher starting pay for a new nurse.

2 more bachelor's programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Nursing$69,420
Computer Science$68,675
Construction Management$59,809
Management Information Systems$56,650
Management Science$56,340

Lowest median debt

Mathematics$17,500
Geography$17,750
Insurance$18,625
Criminal Justice$18,750
Human Development and Family Studies$18,935

Largest programs

PsychologyAbout 317 graduates a year
Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 255 graduates a year
Business AdministrationAbout 251 graduates a year
Teacher EducationAbout 250 graduates a year
MarketingAbout 204 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $69,420 in their first year, the most of 52 Appalachian State bachelor's programs that report pay.

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.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
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 North Carolina rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels