Which Northern Kentucky University bachelor's program has the lowest debt?

Environmental Science and Conservation graduates leave with a median of $16,900 in federal loans, the lowest among 32 Northern Kentucky University bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Northern Kentucky University cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $11,088 a year, and $21,912 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $8,191 a year.

How many Northern Kentucky University programs report graduate pay?

33 bachelor's programs and 2 associate's programs at Northern Kentucky University report first-year pay, and 34 of them also report federal debt.

Northern Kentucky University Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Public university
Highland Heights, KY
8,246 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

33 Northern Kentucky University bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($68,649), and Theatre the least ($19,929). The median program pays $38,970. Northern Kentucky University also has 2 associate's programs that report pay.

In-state tuition and fees$11,088Per year. Out-of-state $21,912

Average net price after aid$8,191Per year

Graduation rate52%Within 6 years

Admission rate68%Of applicants

All 33 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Kentucky" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across Kentucky. 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 Kentucky
1	NursingAbout 231 graduates a year	$68,649	$70,920	$31,000	12th of 19
2	Management Information SystemsAbout 22 graduates a year	$68,628	$88,946	$21,000	1st of 5
3	Industrial TechnologyAbout 31 graduates a year	$67,641	$84,729	$25,500	1st of 2
4	Construction ManagementAbout 33 graduates a year	$67,295	$89,765	$24,053	2nd of 2
5	Computer and Information ScienceAbout 139 graduates a year	$62,411	$86,745	$25,000	3rd of 8
6	Health SciencesAbout 78 graduates a year	$58,970	$74,867	$29,875	1st of 4
7	AccountingGraduates a year not reported	$52,425	$69,638	$23,750	4th of 11
8	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 50 graduates a year	$52,094	$55,224	$30,103	3rd of 3
9	FinanceGraduates a year not reported	$50,457	$69,586	$25,287	3rd of 7
10	Human ResourcesAbout 57 graduates a year	$49,803	$63,578	$29,634	1st of 1
11	BusinessAbout 1 graduates a year	$48,654	$65,218	$30,750	3rd of 14
12	MarketingGraduates a year not reported	$45,386	$61,687	$22,387	3rd of 7
13	Business AdministrationAbout 341 graduates a year	$44,564	$63,791	$20,500	4th of 14
14	Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceGraduates a year not reported	$42,725	$56,835	$23,500	1st of 8
15	Public Relations and AdvertisingAbout 14 graduates a year	$41,842	$52,164	$24,225	2nd of 6
16	Special EducationAbout 11 graduates a year	$40,333	Not reported	$30,750	3rd of 7
17	BiologyAbout 68 graduates a year	$38,970	$56,236	$23,950	1st of 12
18	CommunicationsAbout 52 graduates a year	$38,637	$55,596	$25,000	3rd of 11
19	Teacher EducationAbout 131 graduates a year	$38,059	$41,370	$27,000	7th of 15
20	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 65 graduates a year	$37,602	$54,111	$28,750	2nd of 8
21	Social WorkAbout 67 graduates a year	$37,037	$42,842	$28,906	2nd of 9
22	Environmental Science and ConservationAbout 14 graduates a year	$36,894	Not reported	$16,900	1st of 2
23	PsychologyAbout 92 graduates a year	$36,209	$42,365	$26,088	3rd of 14
24	Criminal JusticeAbout 57 graduates a year	$35,724	$51,498	$25,000	4th of 11
25	MusicAbout 13 graduates a year	$34,428	$41,644	$27,357	2nd of 7
26	Subject-Area Teacher EducationAbout 7 graduates a year	$33,673	$48,220	$29,000	6th of 7
27	EnglishAbout 24 graduates a year	$31,926	$35,381	$24,585	2nd of 8
28	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 42 graduates a year	$31,448	$37,053	$25,724	1st of 8
29	Information ScienceAbout 24 graduates a year	$31,390	$65,863	$27,000	3rd of 3
30	JournalismAbout 47 graduates a year	$29,647	$44,790	$26,122	3rd of 3
31	HistoryAbout 57 graduates a year	$29,619	$44,967	$30,375	1st of 6
32	International RelationsAbout 8 graduates a year	$21,915	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 1
33	TheatreAbout 48 graduates a year	$19,929	$30,382	$21,175	3rd of 3

Program names link to the program's own page, and Kentucky 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 Kentucky programs in the field do too.

Some nursing bachelor's programs are for nurses who are already licensed and working (RN-to-BSN). College Scorecard counts them with programs for new students, and their graduates' pay reflects years of nursing experience, so high pay at a program here may not mean higher starting pay for a new nurse.

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

Both associate's programs

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Kentucky" compares first-year pay with the same field's associate's programs across Kentucky.

Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in Kentucky
Architectural Engineering TechnologyAbout 1 graduates a year	$80,544	Not reported	$22,738	1st of 1
Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 44 graduates a year	$34,541	Not reported	$22,875	3rd of 19

Quick picks: bachelor's programs

Highest first-year pay

Nursing$68,649
Management Information Systems$68,628
Industrial Technology$67,641
Construction Management$67,295
Computer and Information Science$62,411

Lowest median debt

Environmental Science and Conservation$16,900
Business Administration$20,500
Management Information Systems$21,000
Theatre$21,175
Marketing$22,387

Largest programs

Business AdministrationAbout 341 graduates a year
NursingAbout 231 graduates a year
Computer and Information ScienceAbout 139 graduates a year
Teacher EducationAbout 131 graduates a year
PsychologyAbout 92 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $68,649 in their first year, the most of 33 Northern Kentucky University 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 Kentucky 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