Cleveland State Community College Business Administration (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Business Administration, Management and Operations
- Public college
- Cleveland, TN
- About 55 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Cleveland State Community College business administration graduates earn more than graduates of most business administration programs nationally, $50,301 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $8,750 in federal loans, less than at 86% of business administration programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying business administration degrees in Tennessee.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Tennessee and national columns are the medians across all business administration associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Cleveland State Community College graduates earn about the national figure and about $5,089 more than the Tennessee median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Tennessee business administration program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Tennessee 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 falls about 12% 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 $93 a month, or 2.2% 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
97% of graduates (37 of 38) were working in Tennessee one year after graduating. Prices in the Cleveland area are about 12% below the national average, so a $50,301 salary here buys what about $57,108 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
$106,970Median pay in Tennessee. 63,720 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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
$66,390Median pay in Tennessee. 49,870 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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
$47,880Median pay in Tennessee. 26,470 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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
$85,890Median pay in Tennessee. 20,780 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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 Cleveland State Community College
Business Administration ranks 2nd of 4 associate's programs at Cleveland State Community College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($69,229), Business Administration ($50,301), and Allied Health and Medical Assisting ($28,135).
Other business administration associate's programs near Cleveland
Common questions
The median graduate earns $50,301 one year after graduating and $44,034 five years after. The median across business administration associate's programs in Tennessee is $32,334.
The median federal loan balance is $8,750, which ranks 3rd lowest of 7 business administration associate's programs in Tennessee. That works out to about $93 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 17% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 38%.
Most do. 97% (37 of 38) were working in Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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