Northwood Technical College Accounting (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Accounting and Related Services
- Public college
- Rice Lake, WI
- About 16 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Northwood Technical College accounting graduates earn about what accounting graduates earn nationally, $35,039 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $13,167 in federal loans, less than at 79% of accounting programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying accounting degrees in Wisconsin.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Wisconsin and national columns are the medians across all accounting associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Northwood Technical College graduates earn less than the national figure and about $2,773 less than the Wisconsin median. Several Wisconsin programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every Wisconsin accounting program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Wisconsin 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 19% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $140 a month, or 4.8% 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
97% of graduates (29 of 30) were working in Wisconsin one year after graduating. Prices in the parts of Wisconsin outside metro areas are about 10% below the national average, so a $35,039 salary here buys what about $39,116 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
$79,400Median pay in Wisconsin. 25,100 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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.
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks
$50,340Median pay in Wisconsin. 25,960 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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.
Financial Managers
$139,720Median pay in Wisconsin. 15,530 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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.
Financial and Investment Analysts
$95,570Median pay in Wisconsin. 5,430 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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.
About Northwood Technical College
Accounting ranks 5th of 10 associate's programs at Northwood Technical College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($64,281), Criminal Justice ($44,966), and Business Administration ($41,564).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $35,039 one year after graduating and $41,572 five years after. The median across accounting associate's programs in Wisconsin is $42,427.
The median federal loan balance is $13,167, which ranks the lowest of 9 accounting associate's programs in Wisconsin. That works out to about $140 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 38% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 47%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Wisconsin programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 97% (29 of 30) were working in Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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
- 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