Which Georgia accounting program has the lowest debt?

Dalton State College reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,582, with first-year pay of $51,841.

How much do accounting graduates earn in Georgia?

The median across 15 Georgia accounting bachelor's programs is $50,583 in the first year after graduating and $68,958 five years after.

How many accounting bachelor's programs are in Georgia?

15 Georgia programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 15 of them also report federal debt.

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

15 programs report first-year pay
15 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 Georgia accounting bachelor's program pays its graduates $50,583 in their first year, $3,476 less than the national median. University of Georgia reports the highest first-year pay ($64,058), and Dalton State College the lowest median debt ($20,582).

Median first-year pay$50,583National $54,059

Median pay after 5 years$68,958National $71,308

Median federal debt$26,000National $24,958

Debt-to-earnings47%National 45%

All 15 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	University of GeorgiaAthens · public	$64,058	$91,429	$23,250	36%
2	Kennesaw StateKennesaw · public	$57,814	$71,209	$26,000	45%
3	Oglethorpe UniversityAtlanta · private nonprofit	$56,121	$81,747	$26,000	46%
4	Georgia StateAtlanta · public	$55,761	$70,327	$25,500	46%
5	University of West GeorgiaCarrollton · public	$53,940	$67,825	$23,750	44%
6	Georgia Southwestern StateAmericus · public	$51,890	$62,518	$30,000	58%
7	Dalton State CollegeDalton · public	$51,841	$58,722	$20,582	40%
8	Georgia CollegeMilledgeville · public	$50,583	$71,903	$22,425	44%
9	University of North GeorgiaDahlonega · public	$49,588	$71,914	$23,250	47%
10	Columbus StateColumbus · public	$47,646	$53,104	$26,500	56%
11	Augusta UniversityAugusta · public	$46,894	$60,647	$23,000	49%
12	Georgia Southern UniversityStatesboro · public	$44,094	$70,091	$23,363	53%
13	Clayton StateMorrow · public	$42,756	$54,723	$45,375	106%
14	Valdosta StateValdosta · public	$41,974	$62,981	$25,419	61%
15	Savannah StateSavannah · public	$38,206	$50,563	$26,000	68%

4 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Georgia accounting program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 15 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

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

$81,900

Median pay in Georgia. 44,020 people work in this job in Georgia. 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%: $51,830Top 10%: $145,960

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

$49,350

Median pay in Georgia. 38,700 people work in this job in Georgia. 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%: $32,810Top 10%: $71,810

Financial Managers

$166,790

Median pay in Georgia. 21,390 people work in this job in Georgia. 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%: $94,040Top 10%: $315,890

Financial and Investment Analysts

$99,420

Median pay in Georgia. 9,780 people work in this job in Georgia. 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%: $66,140Top 10%: $167,700

Common questions

University of Georgia in Athens reports the highest median first-year pay, $64,058. 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 Georgia 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