Doane University Business Administration (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt

  • Bachelor's in Business Administration, Management and Operations
  • Private nonprofit university
  • Crete, NE
  • About 54 graduates a year

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

Doane University business administration graduates earn about what business administration graduates earn nationally, $50,856 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $26,991 in federal loans, close to the national median of $26,000. It is one of the higher-paying business administration degrees in Nebraska.

First-year earnings$50,85672nd percentile of 1,105 programs nationally
Earnings after 5 years$53,7586% more than year one
Median federal debt$26,9917th lowest of 11 Nebraska programs
Debt-to-earnings53%Nebraska median 53%, national 55%

How it compares

Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Nebraska and national columns are the medians across all business administration bachelor's programs that report the figure.

Five years out, Doane University graduates earn less than the national figure and about $6,327 less than the Nebraska median.

Debt and first-year pay at every Nebraska business administration program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Nebraska medians.

Doane UniversityOther Nebraska programs

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 6% between the first and fifth year.

Doane University grads, year 1$50,856
Doane University grads, year 5$53,758
All Nebraska business administration grads, year 5$60,085

Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.

Does family income change the outcome?

Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned slightly more in their first year than other graduates, but borrowed more: a median of $30,618 against $24,193.

Pell Grant recipients, year 1 earnings$52,499Median debt $30,618
Other graduates, year 1 earnings$51,315Median debt $24,193

Paying back the loans

On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $286 a month, or 6.7% 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. Separately, 39 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $18,930.

Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth

90% of graduates (99 of 110) were working in Nebraska one year after graduating. Prices in the parts of Nebraska outside metro areas are about 14% below the national average, so a $50,856 salary here buys what about $58,913 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

$85,090

Median pay in Nebraska. 24,030 people work in this job in Nebraska. 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.

Bottom 10%: $48,010Top 10%: $193,080

First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

$61,980

Median pay in Nebraska. 9,930 people work in this job in Nebraska. 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.

Bottom 10%: $44,990Top 10%: $87,840

First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers

$45,280

Median pay in Nebraska. 7,010 people work in this job in Nebraska. 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.

Bottom 10%: $34,290Top 10%: $70,690

Project Management Specialists

$80,150

Median pay in Nebraska. 3,190 people work in this job in Nebraska. 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.

Bottom 10%: $51,630Top 10%: $129,560

About Doane University

Business Administration ranks 4th of 8 bachelor's programs at Doane University by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($80,849), Computer and Information Science ($63,451), and Accounting ($52,160).

Other business administration bachelor's programs near Crete

Common questions

The median graduate earns $50,856 one year after graduating and $53,758 five years after. The median across business administration bachelor's programs in Nebraska is $47,476.

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 Nebraska 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

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024

Related pages