Which Iowa business administration program has the lowest debt?

University of Northern Iowa reports the lowest median federal debt, $19,500, with first-year pay of $51,690.

How much do business administration graduates earn in Iowa?

The median across 20 Iowa business administration bachelor's programs is $49,003 in the first year after graduating and $66,929 five years after.

How many business administration bachelor's programs are in Iowa?

20 Iowa programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 20 of them also report federal debt.

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

20 programs report first-year pay
20 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Business Administration, Management and Operations

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Iowa business administration bachelor's program pays its graduates $49,003 in their first year, $3,607 more than the national median. William Penn University reports the highest first-year pay ($62,162), and University of Northern Iowa the lowest median debt ($19,500).

Median first-year pay$49,003National $45,396

Median pay after 5 years$66,929National $62,714

Median federal debt$27,000National $26,000

Debt-to-earnings54%National 55%

All 20 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	William Penn UniversityOskaloosa · private nonprofit	$62,162	Not reported	$27,000	43%
2	Saint Ambrose UniversityDavenport · private nonprofit	$60,163	$69,091	$35,135	58%
3	Iowa StateAmes · public	$57,188	$78,149	$22,250	39%
4	Simpson CollegeIndianola · private nonprofit	$56,812	$66,834	$26,975	47%
5	Upper Iowa UniversityFayette · private nonprofit	$55,854	$66,929	$34,453	62%
6	Briar Cliff UniversitySioux City · private nonprofit	$55,784	$71,329	$25,191	45%
7	Central CollegePella · private nonprofit	$55,760	$68,027	$27,000	48%
8	University of Northern IowaCedar Falls · public	$51,690	$70,623	$19,500	38%
9	University of DubuqueDubuque · private nonprofit	$50,268	$60,776	$27,000	54%
10	Luther CollegeDecorah · private nonprofit	$49,491	$61,587	$27,000	55%
11	Northwestern CollegeOrange City · private nonprofit	$48,515	Not reported	$23,250	48%
12	Coe CollegeCedar Rapids · private nonprofit	$47,815	$74,411	$27,000	56%
13	Drake UniversityDes Moines · private nonprofit	$47,806	$81,031	$20,485	43%
14	Buena Vista UniversityStorm Lake · private nonprofit	$47,385	$58,956	$31,000	65%
15	University of IowaIowa City · public	$46,264	$80,929	$23,750	51%
16	Morningside UniversitySioux City · private nonprofit	$45,637	$61,287	$27,000	59%
17	Graceland University-LamoniLamoni · private nonprofit	$42,777	$60,792	$25,791	60%
18	Loras CollegeDubuque · private nonprofit	$41,810	Not reported	$27,000	65%
19	Mount Mercy UniversityCedar Rapids · private nonprofit	$40,297	$54,703	$27,000	67%
20	Clarke UniversityDubuque · private nonprofit	$38,921	$55,594	$27,000	69%

Debt and first-year pay at every Iowa business administration 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 the 20 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 business administration, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

General and Operations Managers

$87,690

Median pay in Iowa. 30,760 people work in this job in Iowa. 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%: $42,850Top 10%: $191,990

First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

$64,400

Median pay in Iowa. 10,190 people work in this job in Iowa. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 127,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $43,680Top 10%: $97,710

First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers

$46,610

Median pay in Iowa. 9,970 people work in this job in Iowa. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 113,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $32,160Top 10%: $74,030

Project Management Specialists

$96,540

Median pay in Iowa. 6,720 people work in this job in Iowa. 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%: $62,000Top 10%: $150,290

Common questions

William Penn University in Oskaloosa reports the highest median first-year pay, $62,162. Its median federal debt is $27,000.

Business Administration (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked1,105 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 Iowa rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the business administration 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