Morehead State Accounting (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt

  • Bachelor's in Accounting and Related Services
  • Public university
  • Morehead, KY
  • About 26 graduates a year

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

Morehead State accounting graduates earn less than graduates of most accounting programs nationally, $43,607 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $27,440 in federal loans, more than at 84% of accounting programs in the country. Several Kentucky programs report higher pay.

First-year earnings$43,60713th percentile of 636 programs nationally
Earnings after 5 years$55,48427% more than year one
Median federal debt$27,44010th lowest of 11 Kentucky programs
Debt-to-earnings63%Kentucky median 46%, national 45%

How it compares

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

Five years out, Morehead State graduates earn less than the national figure and about $14,154 less than the Kentucky median.

Debt and first-year pay at every Kentucky accounting program

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

Morehead StateOther Kentucky 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 27% between the first and fifth year.

Morehead State grads, year 1$43,607
Morehead State grads, year 5$55,484
All Kentucky accounting grads, year 5$69,638

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 $2,234 less in their first year than other graduates. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.

Pell Grant recipients, year 1 earnings$41,852
Other graduates, year 1 earnings$44,086

Paying back the loans

On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $291 a month, or 8.0% 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

84% of graduates (48 of 57) 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 $43,607 salary here buys what about $51,151 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 accounting, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Accountants and Auditors

$75,270

Median pay in Kentucky. 11,930 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 115,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $50,750Top 10%: $121,230

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

$46,550

Median pay in Kentucky. 23,480 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 144,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: some college, no degree.

Bottom 10%: $30,090Top 10%: $66,930

Financial Managers

$130,650

Median pay in Kentucky. 6,630 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 65,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $82,110Top 10%: $223,290

Financial and Investment Analysts

$81,660

Median pay in Kentucky. 2,460 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $49,930Top 10%: $136,480

About Morehead State

Accounting ranks 5th of 27 bachelor's programs at Morehead State by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($70,523), Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($64,504), and Engineering-Related Fields ($62,330).

Other accounting bachelor's programs near Morehead

Common questions

The median graduate earns $43,607 one year after graduating and $55,484 five years after. The median across accounting bachelor's programs in Kentucky is $50,104.

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 accounting 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

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