Which Southwest Minnesota State major has the lowest debt?

Finance graduates leave with a median of $22,900 in federal loans, the lowest among 10 Southwest Minnesota State bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Southwest Minnesota State cost?

Tuition and fees are $10,361 a year for all students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $15,291 a year.

How many Southwest Minnesota State programs report graduate pay?

12 bachelor's programs at Southwest Minnesota State report first-year pay, and 10 of them also report federal debt.

Southwest Minnesota State Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Southwest Minnesota State University
Public university
Marshall, MN
2,315 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

12 Southwest Minnesota State bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($71,933), and Biology the least ($31,765). The median program pays $45,439.

Tuition and fees$10,361Per year, for all students

Average net price after aid$15,291Per year

Graduation rate45%Within 6 years

Admission rate62%Of applicants

All 12 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Minnesota" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across Minnesota. 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 Minnesota
1	NursingAbout 70 graduates a year	$71,933	$84,871	$33,560	21st of 23
2	Agricultural BusinessAbout 7 graduates a year	$49,521	$55,400	Not reported	2nd of 3
3	Business AdministrationAbout 38 graduates a year	$49,245	$62,733	$25,000	21st of 28
4	MarketingAbout 11 graduates a year	$48,939	$54,828	$23,425	11th of 17
5	FinanceAbout 11 graduates a year	$47,734	$62,403	$22,900	15th of 15
6	Social WorkAbout 15 graduates a year	$46,368	$47,740	Not reported	3rd of 13
7	Special EducationAbout 21 graduates a year	$44,510	Not reported	$30,542	5th of 5
8	Subject-Area Teacher EducationAbout 24 graduates a year	$43,875	Not reported	$29,000	10th of 15
9	Teacher EducationAbout 42 graduates a year	$41,333	$47,061	$27,000	15th of 24
10	PsychologyAbout 14 graduates a year	$33,099	$50,996	$26,500	18th of 23
11	Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 38 graduates a year	$32,802	$49,713	$26,000	10th of 14
12	BiologyAbout 13 graduates a year	$31,765	Not reported	$26,250	21st of 25

Program names link to the program's own page, and Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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.

One more bachelor's program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Nursing$71,933
Agricultural Business$49,521
Business Administration$49,245
Marketing$48,939
Finance$47,734

Lowest median debt

Largest programs

NursingAbout 70 graduates a year
Teacher EducationAbout 42 graduates a year
Business AdministrationAbout 38 graduates a year
Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 38 graduates a year
Subject-Area Teacher EducationAbout 24 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $71,933 in their first year, the most of 12 Southwest Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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