Stark State College Accounting (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Accounting and Related Services
- Public college
- North Canton, OH
- About 24 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Stark State College accounting graduates earn about what accounting graduates earn nationally, $38,671 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $19,455 in federal loans, close to the national median of $17,919. One other Ohio program reports higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Ohio and national columns are the medians across all accounting associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Stark State College graduates earn more than the national figure and about $2,485 more than the Ohio median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Ohio accounting program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Ohio 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 26% 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 $206 a month, or 6.4% 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
95% of graduates (20 of 21) were working in Ohio one year after graduating. Prices in the Canton area are about 11% below the national average, so a $38,671 salary here buys what about $43,253 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
$79,320Median pay in Ohio. 50,440 people work in this job in Ohio. 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
$48,810Median pay in Ohio. 45,140 people work in this job in Ohio. 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
$140,870Median pay in Ohio. 27,360 people work in this job in Ohio. 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
$94,280Median pay in Ohio. 9,760 people work in this job in Ohio. 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 Stark State College
Accounting ranks 4th of 11 associate's programs at Stark State College by first-year earnings. The top three are Electrical Engineering Technology ($109,198), Nursing ($61,548), and Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($51,690).
Other accounting associate's programs near North Canton
Common questions
The median graduate earns $38,671 one year after graduating and $48,716 five years after. The median across accounting associate's programs in Ohio is $35,703.
The median federal loan balance is $19,455, which ranks 3rd lowest of 5 accounting associate's programs in Ohio. That works out to about $206 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 50% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 47%. Compare the cost with other Ohio programs before deciding.
Most do. 95% (20 of 21) were working in Ohio 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 Ohio 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