Which Kansas State major has the lowest debt?

Microbiology graduates leave with a median of $17,227 in federal loans, the lowest among 54 Kansas State bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Kansas State cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $11,221 a year, and $28,568 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $19,406 a year.

How many Kansas State programs report graduate pay?

55 bachelor's programs at Kansas State report first-year pay, and 54 of them also report federal debt.

Kansas State Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Kansas State University
Public university
Manhattan, KS
15,142 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

55 Kansas State bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Electrical Engineering pays the most in the first year ($78,758), and Anthropology the least ($18,567). The median program pays $43,992.

In-state tuition and fees$11,221Per year. Out-of-state $28,568

Average net price after aid$19,406Per year

Graduation rate71%Within 6 years

Admission rate82%Of applicants

All 55 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Kansas" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across Kansas. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in Kansas
1	Electrical EngineeringAbout 32 graduates a year	$78,758	$91,586	$23,105	2nd of 3
2	Computer EngineeringAbout 19 graduates a year	$77,938	Not reported	$25,766	1st of 2
3	Industrial EngineeringAbout 35 graduates a year	$77,724	Not reported	$25,000	1st of 1
4	Chemical EngineeringAbout 51 graduates a year	$77,492	$105,727	$24,750	1st of 2
5	Computer and Information ScienceAbout 106 graduates a year	$76,385	Not reported	$25,871	1st of 4
6	Food ProcessingAbout 29 graduates a year	$76,052	$83,856	$23,250	1st of 1
7	Construction Engineering TechnologyAbout 56 graduates a year	$74,253	$94,083	$27,000	1st of 1
8	Architectural EngineeringAbout 36 graduates a year	$74,091	$88,031	$27,000	2nd of 2
9	Mechanical EngineeringAbout 140 graduates a year	$72,627	$89,754	$25,000	1st of 4
10	Civil EngineeringAbout 39 graduates a year	$69,300	$77,352	$25,250	1st of 2
11	Agricultural EngineeringAbout 36 graduates a year	$64,644	Not reported	$22,873	1st of 1
12	Agricultural MechanizationAbout 16 graduates a year	$63,239	Not reported	$19,344	1st of 1
13	Food ScienceAbout 38 graduates a year	$62,479	$62,917	$24,844	1st of 1
14	Engineering TechnologyAbout 12 graduates a year	$61,696	$85,606	$22,250	1st of 2
15	AccountingAbout 88 graduates a year	$60,155	$79,534	$24,250	1st of 10
16	Management Information SystemsAbout 30 graduates a year	$60,144	$92,359	$24,308	2nd of 3
17	FinanceAbout 173 graduates a year	$54,509	$73,166	$24,990	3rd of 7
18	BusinessAbout 62 graduates a year	$54,223	$64,510	$29,705	1st of 4
19	Agricultural BusinessAbout 82 graduates a year	$53,751	$61,026	$19,641	1st of 2
20	Business AdministrationAbout 153 graduates a year	$52,538	$67,390	$23,250	7th of 16
21	EconomicsAbout 23 graduates a year	$52,490	$75,615	$20,312	1st of 3
22	AviationAbout 69 graduates a year	$51,198	Not reported	$21,500	1st of 1
23	MarketingAbout 159 graduates a year	$50,468	$72,115	$25,000	1st of 8
24	Plant ScienceAbout 52 graduates a year	$50,115	$61,678	$21,905	1st of 1
25	Subject-Area Teacher EducationAbout 44 graduates a year	$45,179	Not reported	$22,814	2nd of 6
26	Environmental Science and ConservationAbout 26 graduates a year	$44,486	Not reported	$23,322	1st of 2
27	Teacher EducationAbout 221 graduates a year	$44,320	$46,577	$24,999	5th of 15
28	Design and Applied ArtsAbout 17 graduates a year	$43,992	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 3
29	MathematicsAbout 21 graduates a year	$43,067	Not reported	$21,250	2nd of 2
30	SociologyAbout 36 graduates a year	$42,985	$53,046	$25,946	1st of 5
31	Hospitality ManagementAbout 17 graduates a year	$42,073	$55,360	$25,000	1st of 2
32	Social WorkAbout 37 graduates a year	$41,833	$47,230	$24,603	2nd of 6
33	Social SciencesAbout 56 graduates a year	$40,793	$50,046	$27,500	1st of 1
34	Other Natural ResourcesAbout 13 graduates a year	$39,705	Not reported	$23,979	1st of 1
35	EntrepreneurshipAbout 23 graduates a year	$39,646	$71,863	$21,287	1st of 1
36	Animal ScienceAbout 211 graduates a year	$38,868	$51,573	$22,757	1st of 1
37	GerontologyAbout 23 graduates a year	$37,623	$66,752	$25,000	1st of 1
38	Apparel and TextilesAbout 15 graduates a year	$37,529	Not reported	$22,773	1st of 1
39	JournalismAbout 62 graduates a year	$37,484	$54,635	$21,500	2nd of 2
40	Recreation ManagementAbout 16 graduates a year	$37,083	Not reported	$26,000	1st of 1
41	Experimental PsychologyAbout 110 graduates a year	$36,257	Not reported	$20,035	1st of 1
42	MicrobiologyAbout 27 graduates a year	$35,523	Not reported	$17,227	2nd of 2
43	Human Development and Family StudiesAbout 86 graduates a year	$34,241	$44,784	$25,000	1st of 1
44	HistoryAbout 24 graduates a year	$33,744	$58,231	$19,539	2nd of 2
45	Nutrition ScienceAbout 138 graduates a year	$33,381	Not reported	$24,625	1st of 1
46	Political ScienceAbout 41 graduates a year	$32,289	$72,168	$25,000	2nd of 4
47	Physiology and PathologyAbout 135 graduates a year	$31,958	Not reported	$22,775	2nd of 2
48	EnglishAbout 27 graduates a year	$31,364	Not reported	$21,750	3rd of 5
49	CommunicationsAbout 29 graduates a year	$30,385	$57,251	$24,945	6th of 7
50	Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyAbout 29 graduates a year	$29,651	Not reported	$27,500	2nd of 2
51	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 32 graduates a year	$28,218	$51,823	$27,000	2nd of 5
52	Natural SciencesAbout 67 graduates a year	$28,107	$65,682	$20,500	1st of 1
53	BiologyAbout 90 graduates a year	$27,301	$65,318	$21,500	8th of 8
54	ZoologyAbout 26 graduates a year	$26,843	Not reported	$24,853	1st of 2
55	AnthropologyAbout 19 graduates a year	$18,567	Not reported	$22,686	3rd of 3

Program names link to the program's own page, and Kansas ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five Kansas programs in the field do too.

4 more bachelor's programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Electrical Engineering$78,758
Computer Engineering$77,938
Industrial Engineering$77,724
Chemical Engineering$77,492
Computer and Information Science$76,385

Lowest median debt

Microbiology$17,227
Agricultural Mechanization$19,344
History$19,539
Agricultural Business$19,641
Experimental Psychology$20,035

Largest programs

Teacher EducationAbout 221 graduates a year
Animal ScienceAbout 211 graduates a year
FinanceAbout 173 graduates a year
MarketingAbout 159 graduates a year
Business AdministrationAbout 153 graduates a year

Common questions

Electrical Engineering graduates earn a median of $78,758 in their first year, the most of 55 Kansas State bachelor's programs that report pay.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
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 Kansas rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels