Which Alabama accounting program has the lowest debt?

Jacksonville State reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,500, with first-year pay of $40,541.

How much do accounting graduates earn in Alabama?

The median across 12 Alabama accounting bachelor's programs is $46,800 in the first year after graduating and $63,298 five years after.

How many accounting bachelor's programs are in Alabama?

12 Alabama programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 12 of them also report federal debt.

Accounting (Bachelor's) Programs in Alabama, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

12 programs report first-year pay
12 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Accounting and Related Services

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Alabama accounting bachelor's program pays its graduates $46,800 in their first year, $7,260 less than the national median. Auburn University reports the highest first-year pay ($60,381), and Jacksonville State the lowest median debt ($20,500).

Median first-year pay$46,800National $54,059

Median pay after 5 years$63,298National $71,308

Median federal debt$25,764National $24,958

Debt-to-earnings56%National 45%

All 12 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Auburn UniversityAuburn · public	$60,381	$79,838	$23,250	39%
2	University of AlabamaTuscaloosa · public	$53,452	$79,435	$23,000	43%
3	UABBirmingham · public	$51,640	$63,551	$34,288	66%
4	University of South AlabamaMobile · public	$48,795	$54,805	$27,000	55%
5	Alabama A&M UniversityNormal · public	$47,156	Not reported	$28,049	59%
6	University of North AlabamaFlorence · public	$47,022	$61,438	$21,125	45%
7	Athens StateAthens · public	$46,577	$61,742	$30,500	65%
8	University of Alabama in HuntsvilleHuntsville · public	$45,751	$75,678	$25,000	55%
9	Troy UniversityTroy · public	$44,005	$57,171	$25,000	57%
10	Auburn University at MontgomeryMontgomery · public	$42,389	Not reported	$26,528	63%
11	Jacksonville StateJacksonville · public	$40,541	$63,298	$20,500	51%
12	Alabama StateMontgomery · public	$39,762	Not reported	$30,750	77%

Debt and first-year pay at every Alabama accounting program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Alabama medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 12 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Jacksonville State$20,500
University of North Alabama$21,125
University of Alabama$23,000
Auburn University$23,250
University of Alabama in Huntsville$25,000

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$74,880

Median pay in Alabama. 24,300 people work in this job in Alabama. 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.

Bottom 10%: $50,240Top 10%: $123,170

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

$44,640

Median pay in Alabama. 19,890 people work in this job in Alabama. 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.

Bottom 10%: $30,460Top 10%: $60,250

Financial Managers

$140,500

Median pay in Alabama. 7,200 people work in this job in Alabama. 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.

Bottom 10%: $86,340Top 10%: $256,750

Financial and Investment Analysts

$91,290

Median pay in Alabama. 3,410 people work in this job in Alabama. 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.

Bottom 10%: $52,200Top 10%: $157,320

Common questions

Auburn University in Auburn reports the highest median first-year pay, $60,381. Its median federal debt is $23,250.

Accounting (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked636 programs by pay and debt

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.
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 Alabama rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the accounting bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024