Which Iowa human resources program has the lowest debt?

University of Iowa reports the lowest median federal debt, $23,149, with first-year pay of $52,945.

How much do human resources graduates earn in Iowa?

The median across 6 Iowa human resources bachelor's programs is $49,512 in the first year after graduating and $66,547 five years after.

How many human resources bachelor's programs are in Iowa?

6 Iowa programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 6 of them also report federal debt.

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

6 programs report first-year pay
6 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Human Resources Management and Services

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Iowa human resources bachelor's program pays its graduates $49,512 in their first year, $872 less than the national median. Waldorf University reports the highest first-year pay ($77,897), and University of Iowa the lowest median debt ($23,149).

Median first-year pay$49,512National $50,383

Median pay after 5 years$66,547National $65,232

Median federal debt$27,375National $26,442

Debt-to-earnings55%National 53%

All 6 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	Waldorf UniversityForest City · private nonprofit	$77,897	$75,847	$32,111	41%
2	University of IowaIowa City · public	$52,945	$75,166	$23,149	44%
3	Grand View UniversityDes Moines · private nonprofit	$49,917	$80,108	$27,375	55%
4	Upper Iowa UniversityFayette · private nonprofit	$49,106	$57,928	$41,006	84%
5	Mount Mercy UniversityCedar Rapids · private nonprofit	$48,722	$55,899	$29,225	60%
6	University of DubuqueDubuque · private nonprofit	$48,657	Not reported	$27,000	55%

One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Iowa human resources 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 6 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 human resources, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Human Resources Specialists

$66,710

Median pay in Iowa. 7,930 people work in this job in Iowa. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 73,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $45,400Top 10%: $110,640

Training and Development Specialists

$66,110

Median pay in Iowa. 4,670 people work in this job in Iowa. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 46,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $42,370Top 10%: $118,070

Compliance Officers

$75,620

Median pay in Iowa. 3,660 people work in this job in Iowa. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 32,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $49,940Top 10%: $114,460

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors

$56,540

Median pay in Iowa. 3,690 people work in this job in Iowa. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 27,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $43,470Top 10%: $77,110

Common questions

Waldorf University in Forest City reports the highest median first-year pay, $77,897. Its median federal debt is $32,111.

Human Resources (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked151 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 human resources 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