Upper Iowa University Accounting (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Accounting and Related Services
- Private nonprofit university
- Fayette, IA
- About 35 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Upper Iowa University accounting graduates earn about what accounting graduates earn nationally, $54,152 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $37,608 in federal loans, more than at 95% of accounting programs in the country. Several Iowa programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Iowa and national columns are the medians across all accounting bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Upper Iowa University graduates earn less than the national figure and about $18,620 less than the Iowa median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Iowa accounting program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Iowa 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 8% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned $12,167 less in their first year than other graduates. They also borrowed more. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $399 a month, or 8.8% 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
39% of graduates (36 of 93) were working in Iowa one year after graduating. Prices in the parts of Iowa outside metro areas are about 16% below the national average, so a $54,152 salary here buys what about $64,408 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
$77,440Median pay in Iowa. 13,210 people work in this job in Iowa. 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
$48,180Median pay in Iowa. 14,020 people work in this job in Iowa. 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
$133,320Median pay in Iowa. 9,130 people work in this job in Iowa. 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
$92,370Median pay in Iowa. 2,000 people work in this job in Iowa. 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 Upper Iowa University
Accounting ranks 5th of 18 bachelor's programs at Upper Iowa University by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($70,224), Public Administration ($61,104), and Social Sciences ($56,221).
Other accounting bachelor's programs near Fayette
Common questions
The median graduate earns $54,152 one year after graduating and $58,713 five years after. The median across accounting bachelor's programs in Iowa is $59,252.
The median federal loan balance is $37,608, which ranks 14th lowest of 14 accounting bachelor's programs in Iowa. That works out to about $399 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 69% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 45%. Compare the cost with other Iowa programs before deciding.
Many leave. 39% (36 of 93) were working in Iowa 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 Iowa 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