Which Ball State bachelor's program has the lowest debt?

Management Science graduates leave with a median of $16,654 in federal loans, the lowest among 49 Ball State bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Ball State cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $11,082 a year, and $29,630 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $14,940 a year.

How many Ball State programs report graduate pay?

53 bachelor's programs and one associate's program at Ball State report first-year pay, and 49 of them also report federal debt.

Ball State Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Ball State University
Public university
Muncie, IN
13,988 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

53 Ball State bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($73,719), and Theatre the least ($23,748). The median program pays $39,755. Ball State also has one associate's program that reports pay.

In-state tuition and fees$11,082Per year. Out-of-state $29,630

Average net price after aid$14,940Per year

Graduation rate62%Within 6 years

Admission rate86%Of applicants

All 53 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Indiana" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across Indiana. 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 Indiana
1	NursingAbout 151 graduates a year	$73,719	$70,375	$26,000	7th of 27
2	Construction ManagementAbout 48 graduates a year	$69,076	Not reported	$25,769	2nd of 2
3	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 10 graduates a year	$67,833	$54,858	$27,000	5th of 8
4	Management ScienceAbout 32 graduates a year	$67,350	$94,152	$16,654	3rd of 5
5	Sales and MerchandisingAbout 25 graduates a year	$65,184	Not reported	$26,000	1st of 2
6	Business AdministrationAbout 33 graduates a year	$60,526	$77,414	$20,500	2nd of 28
7	Landscape ArchitectureAbout 21 graduates a year	$59,972	$69,909	Not reported	1st of 1
8	Computer and Information ScienceGraduates a year not reported	$59,249	$86,069	$23,512	6th of 9
9	Real EstateAbout 12 graduates a year	$58,575	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 1
10	ArchitectureAbout 56 graduates a year	$57,603	$62,012	$28,670	2nd of 2
11	EconomicsAbout 36 graduates a year	$56,782	Not reported	$22,054	5th of 8
12	AccountingAbout 57 graduates a year	$56,101	$73,013	$24,000	10th of 18
13	Management Information SystemsAbout 22 graduates a year	$53,597	$77,623	$25,000	3rd of 3
14	Business EconomicsGraduates a year not reported	$53,319	$70,574	$27,000	1st of 1
15	Computer Engineering TechnologyAbout 6 graduates a year	$51,219	Not reported	$26,000	1st of 2
16	FinanceAbout 69 graduates a year	$50,077	$69,618	$24,101	12th of 16
17	InsuranceAbout 17 graduates a year	$48,615	Not reported	$27,000	1st of 1
18	Special EducationAbout 39 graduates a year	$47,499	$50,351	$23,250	3rd of 6
19	Human ResourcesAbout 23 graduates a year	$47,451	$64,797	$20,500	4th of 5
20	BusinessAbout 164 graduates a year	$46,550	$61,775	$25,000	8th of 12
21	Subject-Area Teacher EducationAbout 129 graduates a year	$46,347	$53,195	$24,998	7th of 14
22	ChemistryAbout 17 graduates a year	$42,677	$65,443	$25,000	3rd of 6
23	MarketingAbout 75 graduates a year	$42,480	$60,408	$24,730	11th of 16
24	Teacher EducationAbout 189 graduates a year	$41,821	$45,064	$24,655	17th of 26
25	Health SciencesAbout 15 graduates a year	$41,603	Not reported	$27,000	1st of 6
26	Criminal JusticeAbout 104 graduates a year	$39,991	$53,870	$23,367	11th of 20
27	Political ScienceAbout 23 graduates a year	$39,755	$49,159	$25,410	3rd of 10
28	Other Legal StudiesAbout 31 graduates a year	$39,220	$68,488	$27,000	1st of 1
29	Social WorkAbout 60 graduates a year	$39,094	$45,042	$23,900	4th of 12
30	Public Relations and AdvertisingAbout 64 graduates a year	$38,020	$54,927	$23,879	3rd of 5
31	Pre-Health StudiesAbout 44 graduates a year	$37,638	$71,579	$25,732	1st of 2
32	Romance LanguagesAbout 21 graduates a year	$37,553	$41,975	$21,702	4th of 7
33	Atmospheric Science and MeteorologyAbout 8 graduates a year	$36,920	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 1
34	Design and Applied ArtsAbout 46 graduates a year	$36,864	Not reported	$22,000	3rd of 7
35	Specialized Sales and MerchandisingAbout 26 graduates a year	$35,904	Not reported	$25,583	1st of 1
36	Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 93 graduates a year	$35,500	$54,684	$25,962	7th of 18
37	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 199 graduates a year	$35,269	$46,722	$26,965	13th of 18
38	GeographyAbout 13 graduates a year	$34,274	$52,447	$26,000	1st of 1
39	BiologyAbout 141 graduates a year	$34,248	$47,824	$24,333	12th of 17
40	Environmental Science and ConservationAbout 26 graduates a year	$34,000	$57,266	$27,000	3rd of 5
41	CommunicationsAbout 42 graduates a year	$33,815	$49,909	$21,550	10th of 17
42	SociologyAbout 21 graduates a year	$32,973	$50,157	$22,198	6th of 10
43	Human Development and Family StudiesAbout 29 graduates a year	$32,836	Not reported	$27,000	3rd of 4
44	Radio, TV, and Digital MediaAbout 178 graduates a year	$32,118	$43,808	$23,443	3rd of 5
45	JournalismAbout 69 graduates a year	$31,398	$54,057	$25,675	3rd of 3
46	PsychologyAbout 189 graduates a year	$31,305	$47,499	$24,612	18th of 24
47	DanceAbout 14 graduates a year	$28,838	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 3
48	HistoryAbout 47 graduates a year	$28,444	$42,879	$21,750	6th of 6
49	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 84 graduates a year	$28,405	$42,441	$25,637	4th of 8
50	Hospitality ManagementAbout 10 graduates a year	$28,071	Not reported	$24,148	6th of 6
51	EnglishAbout 47 graduates a year	$26,572	$39,232	$24,750	10th of 12
52	AnthropologyAbout 31 graduates a year	$24,452	$43,370	$23,352	3rd of 3
53	TheatreAbout 72 graduates a year	$23,748	$32,171	$24,984	3rd of 5

Program names link to the program's own page, and Indiana 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 Indiana 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.

One associate's program

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Indiana" compares first-year pay with the same field's associate's programs across Indiana.

Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in Indiana
Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 42 graduates a year	$20,178	$56,983	Not reported	5th of 5

Quick picks: bachelor's programs

Highest first-year pay

Nursing$73,719
Construction Management$69,076
Diagnostic and Treatment Professions$67,833
Management Science$67,350
Sales and Merchandising$65,184

Lowest median debt

Management Science$16,654
Business Administration$20,500
Human Resources$20,500
Communications$21,550
Romance Languages$21,702

Largest programs

Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 199 graduates a year
Teacher EducationAbout 189 graduates a year
PsychologyAbout 189 graduates a year
Radio, TV, and Digital MediaAbout 178 graduates a year
BusinessAbout 164 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $73,719 in their first year, the most of 53 Ball 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 Indiana 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