Ball State Economics (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Economics
- Public university
- Muncie, IN
- About 36 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Ball State economics graduates earn about what economics graduates earn nationally, $56,782 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $22,054 in federal loans, close to the national median of $22,717. Several Indiana programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Indiana and national columns are the medians across all economics bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every Indiana economics program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Indiana medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned about the same in their first year as 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 $234 a month, or 4.9% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
83% of graduates (33 of 40) were working in Indiana one year after graduating. Prices in the Muncie area are about 12% below the national average, so a $56,782 salary here buys what about $64,417 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 economics, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$61,880Median pay in Indiana. 20,430 people work in this job in Indiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
$63,700Median pay in Indiana. 14,400 people work in this job in Indiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 82,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Data Scientists
$91,470Median pay in Indiana. 3,580 people work in this job in Indiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 35% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Social Science Research Assistants
$57,020Median pay in Indiana. 210 people work in this job in Indiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Ball State
Economics ranks 11th of 53 bachelor's programs at Ball State by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($73,719), Construction Management ($69,076), and Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($67,833).
Other economics bachelor's programs near Muncie
Common questions
The median graduate earns $56,782 one year after graduating. The median across economics bachelor's programs in Indiana is $57,962.
The median federal loan balance is $22,054, which ranks 4th lowest of 8 economics bachelor's programs in Indiana. That works out to about $234 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 39% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 43%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Indiana programs report higher pay.
Most do. 83% (33 of 40) were working in Indiana one year after graduating.
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 Indiana 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 economics 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