Which Iowa finance program has the lowest debt?

University of Northern Iowa reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,750, with first-year pay of $52,759.

How much do finance graduates earn in Iowa?

The median across 11 Iowa finance bachelor's programs is $52,759 in the first year after graduating and $71,845 five years after.

How many finance bachelor's programs are in Iowa?

11 Iowa programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 10 of them also report federal debt.

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

11 programs report first-year pay
10 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Finance and Financial Management Services

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Iowa finance bachelor's program pays its graduates $52,759 in their first year, $614 less than the national median. Drake University reports the highest first-year pay ($62,049), and University of Northern Iowa the lowest median debt ($20,750).

Median first-year pay$52,759National $53,373

Median pay after 5 years$71,845National $77,457

Median federal debt$24,539National $23,250

Debt-to-earnings41%National 44%

All 11 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	Drake UniversityDes Moines · private nonprofit	$62,049	$100,759	$25,000	40%
2	University of IowaIowa City · public	$59,965	$89,537	$23,165	39%
3	Loras CollegeDubuque · private nonprofit	$59,434	$69,053	$24,077	41%
4	Iowa StateAmes · public	$56,974	$75,665	$21,750	38%
5	Saint Ambrose UniversityDavenport · private nonprofit	$56,275	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
6	University of Northern IowaCedar Falls · public	$52,759	$71,845	$20,750	39%
7	Dordt UniversitySioux Center · private nonprofit	$52,640	Not reported	$22,250	42%
8	Buena Vista UniversityStorm Lake · private nonprofit	$52,226	$74,244	$27,000	52%
9	Mount Mercy UniversityCedar Rapids · private nonprofit	$51,445	$57,775	$25,250	49%
10	Grand View UniversityDes Moines · private nonprofit	$51,299	$63,368	$27,000	53%
11	Upper Iowa UniversityFayette · private nonprofit	$48,860	$61,823	$26,000	53%

Saint Ambrose University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Iowa finance 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 10 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Drake University$62,049
University of Iowa$59,965
Loras College$59,434
Iowa State$56,974
Saint Ambrose University$56,275

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 finance, 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

Financial Managers

$133,320

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $80,020Top 10%: $225,920

Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents

$64,290

Median pay in Iowa. 2,300 people work in this job in Iowa. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 35,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $46,140Top 10%: $163,510

Financial and Investment Analysts

$92,370

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $62,310Top 10%: $135,890

Common questions

Drake University in Des Moines reports the highest median first-year pay, $62,049. Its median federal debt is $25,000.

Finance (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked407 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 finance 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