Eastern Kentucky University Business Administration (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Business Administration, Management and Operations
- Public university
- Richmond, KY
- About 42 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Eastern Kentucky University business administration graduates earn about what business administration graduates earn nationally, $43,055 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $26,500 in federal loans, close to the national median of $26,000. Several Kentucky programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Kentucky and national columns are the medians across all business administration bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Eastern Kentucky University graduates earn less than the national figure but about $2,954 more than the Kentucky median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Kentucky business administration program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Kentucky 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 37% between the first and fifth year.
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 $27,500 against $23,250.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $281 a month, or 7.8% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
20 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $11,981.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
86% of graduates (57 of 66) were working in Kentucky one year after graduating. Prices in the parts of Kentucky outside metro areas are about 15% below the national average, so a $43,055 salary here buys what about $50,503 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
$79,370Median pay in Kentucky. 52,100 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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
$63,180Median pay in Kentucky. 19,670 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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
$40,080Median pay in Kentucky. 18,290 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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
$81,700Median pay in Kentucky. 10,250 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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 Eastern Kentucky University
Business Administration ranks 9th of 41 bachelor's programs at Eastern Kentucky University by first-year earnings. The top three are Quality Control and Safety Technology ($71,240), Construction Management ($68,726), and Nursing ($68,633).
Other business administration bachelor's programs near Richmond
Common questions
The median graduate earns $43,055 one year after graduating and $59,049 five years after. The median across business administration bachelor's programs in Kentucky is $41,665.
The median federal loan balance is $26,500, which ranks 10th lowest of 14 business administration bachelor's programs in Kentucky. That works out to about $281 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 62% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 55%. Compare the cost with other Kentucky programs before deciding.
Most do. 86% (57 of 66) were working in Kentucky 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 Kentucky 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