US College Programs

Business (Bachelor's) Programs in Arkansas, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

  • 5 programs report first-year pay
  • 5 also report federal debt
  • Bachelor's in Business/Commerce, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Arkansas business bachelor's program pays its graduates $42,892 in their first year, $3,815 less than the national median. John Brown University reports the highest first-year pay ($58,390), and Henderson State the lowest median debt ($19,500).

Median first-year pay$42,892National $46,707
Median pay after 5 years$65,716National $64,119
Median federal debt$23,000National $25,625
Debt-to-earnings54%National 54%

All 5 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.

Debt and first-year pay at every Arkansas business program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

  1. John Brown University$58,390
  2. University of Arkansas$49,307
  3. University of Central Arkansas$42,892
  4. Henderson State$36,606
  5. Southern Arkansas University$34,910

Lowest median debt

  1. Henderson State$19,500
  2. Southern Arkansas University$22,500
  3. University of Central Arkansas$23,000
  4. John Brown University$26,566
  5. University of Arkansas$29,625

Lowest debt for the pay

  1. John Brown University45%
  2. Henderson State53%
  3. University of Central Arkansas54%
  4. University of Arkansas60%
  5. Southern Arkansas University64%

"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 business, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

General and Operations Managers

$74,050

Median pay in Arkansas. 34,570 people work in this job in Arkansas. 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.

Bottom 10%: $36,200Top 10%: $173,080

Project Management Specialists

$77,170

Median pay in Arkansas. 5,510 people work in this job in Arkansas. 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.

Bottom 10%: $47,620Top 10%: $133,420

Management Analysts

$72,950

Median pay in Arkansas. 6,250 people work in this job in Arkansas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 94,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $47,260Top 10%: $141,800

Sales Managers

$108,330

Median pay in Arkansas. 3,710 people work in this job in Arkansas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 47,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $53,860Top 10%: $245,640

Common questions

John Brown University in Siloam Springs reports the highest median first-year pay, $58,390. Its median federal debt is $26,566.

Related pages

Business (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked206 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 Arkansas rankings when their main campus is in another state.
  • Medians are across the business 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

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024