Which Kansas accounting program has the lowest debt?

Emporia State reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,000, with first-year pay of $40,967.

How much do accounting graduates earn in Kansas?

The median across 10 Kansas accounting bachelor's programs is $54,795 in the first year after graduating and $70,804 five years after.

How many accounting bachelor's programs are in Kansas?

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

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

10 programs report first-year pay
10 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 Kansas accounting bachelor's program pays its graduates $54,795 in their first year, $736 more than the national median. Kansas State reports the highest first-year pay ($60,155), and Emporia State the lowest median debt ($20,000).

Median first-year pay$54,795National $54,059

Median pay after 5 years$70,804National $71,308

Median federal debt$22,250National $24,958

Debt-to-earnings43%National 45%

All 10 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	Kansas StateManhattan · public	$60,155	$79,534	$24,250	40%
2	Wichita StateWichita · public	$59,448	$72,214	$22,250	37%
3	Benedictine CollegeAtchison · private nonprofit	$58,320	$79,921	$20,500	35%
4	Fort Hays StateHays · public	$56,503	$54,152	$26,000	46%
5	Washburn UniversityTopeka · public	$55,197	$66,605	$20,853	38%
6	Friends UniversityWichita · private nonprofit	$54,393	$69,393	$31,250	57%
7	University of KansasLawrence · public	$53,842	$79,167	$21,219	39%
8	Ottawa University-OttawaOttawa · private nonprofit	$51,664	Not reported	$35,854	69%
9	Pittsburg StatePittsburg · public	$43,624	$64,515	$22,250	51%
10	Emporia StateEmporia · public	$40,967	$72,650	$20,000	49%

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

Debt and first-year pay at every Kansas accounting program

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

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

$79,000

Median pay in Kansas. 13,610 people work in this job in Kansas. 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%: $52,960Top 10%: $129,800

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

$47,290

Median pay in Kansas. 15,380 people work in this job in Kansas. 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%: $32,130Top 10%: $64,130

Financial Managers

$159,380

Median pay in Kansas. 5,190 people work in this job in Kansas. 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%: $97,510Top 10%: $273,640

Financial and Investment Analysts

$84,860

Median pay in Kansas. 1,870 people work in this job in Kansas. 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%: $58,680Top 10%: $128,750

Common questions

Kansas State in Manhattan reports the highest median first-year pay, $60,155. Its median federal debt is $24,250.

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 Kansas 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