Polk State College Business Administration (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Business Administration, Management and Operations
- Public college
- Winter Haven, FL
- About 30 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Polk State College business administration graduates earn about what business administration graduates earn nationally, $38,868 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $8,000 in federal loans, less than at 89% of business administration programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying business administration degrees in Florida.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Florida and national columns are the medians across all business administration associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Polk State College graduates earn about the national figure and about $2,584 more than the Florida median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Florida business administration program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Florida 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 16% 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 $85 a month, or 2.6% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
96% of graduates (23 of 24) were working in Florida one year after graduating. Prices in the Lakeland area are about 3% below the national average, so a $38,868 salary here buys what about $40,012 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
$101,580Median pay in Florida. 236,290 people work in this job in Florida. 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
$64,360Median pay in Florida. 93,850 people work in this job in Florida. 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
$48,410Median pay in Florida. 80,470 people work in this job in Florida. 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
$98,070Median pay in Florida. 76,370 people work in this job in Florida. 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 Polk State College
Business Administration ranks 3rd of 5 associate's programs at Polk State College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($69,158), Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($58,088), and Business Administration ($38,868).
Other business administration associate's programs near Winter Haven
Common questions
The median graduate earns $38,868 one year after graduating and $44,925 five years after. The median across business administration associate's programs in Florida is $39,151.
The median federal loan balance is $8,000, which ranks the lowest of 12 business administration associate's programs in Florida. That works out to about $85 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 21% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 38%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Florida programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 96% (23 of 24) were working in Florida 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 Florida 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