Carl Albert State College Business Administration (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Business Administration, Management and Operations
- Public college
- Poteau, OK
- About 40 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Carl Albert State College business administration graduates earn less than graduates of most business administration programs nationally, $26,274 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $10,568 in federal loans, close to the national median of $13,418. Several Oklahoma programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Oklahoma and national columns are the medians across all business administration associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Carl Albert State College graduates earn less than the national figure and about $3,763 less than the Oklahoma median. Several Oklahoma programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every Oklahoma business administration program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Oklahoma 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 32% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $112 a month, or 5.1% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
Prices in the parts of Oklahoma outside metro areas are about 16% below the national average, so a $26,274 salary here buys what about $31,437 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 business administration, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
General and Operations Managers
$90,430Median pay in Oklahoma. 43,890 people work in this job in Oklahoma. 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.
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers
$60,870Median pay in Oklahoma. 19,860 people work in this job in Oklahoma. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 127,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers
$45,430Median pay in Oklahoma. 15,340 people work in this job in Oklahoma. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 113,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Project Management Specialists
$86,240Median pay in Oklahoma. 11,220 people work in this job in Oklahoma. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 76,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Carl Albert State College
Business Administration ranks 4th of 6 associate's programs at Carl Albert State College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($69,264), Allied Health and Medical Assisting ($38,303), and Liberal Arts and General Studies ($26,648).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $26,274 one year after graduating and $34,762 five years after. The median across business administration associate's programs in Oklahoma is $33,084.
The median federal loan balance is $10,568, which ranks 2nd lowest of 7 business administration associate's programs in Oklahoma. That works out to about $112 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 40% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 38%. Compare the cost with other Oklahoma programs before deciding.
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 Oklahoma 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 business administration 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