Which Kansas psychology program has the lowest debt?

Emporia State reports the lowest median federal debt, $19,500, with first-year pay of $35,389.

How much do psychology graduates earn in Kansas?

The median across 10 Kansas psychology bachelor's programs is $35,793 in the first year after graduating and $45,217 five years after.

How many psychology bachelor's programs are in Kansas?

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

Psychology (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 Psychology, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Kansas psychology bachelor's program pays its graduates $35,793 in their first year, $4,314 more than the national median. Fort Hays State reports the highest first-year pay ($40,009), and Emporia State the lowest median debt ($19,500).

Median first-year pay$35,793National $31,479

Median pay after 5 years$45,217National $49,019

Median federal debt$26,222National $25,624

Debt-to-earnings68%National 78%

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	Fort Hays StateHays · public	$40,009	$45,217	$29,000	72%
2	Ottawa University-OttawaOttawa · private nonprofit	$39,596	Not reported	$27,562	70%
3	Washburn UniversityTopeka · public	$38,264	$44,367	$25,249	66%
4	University of KansasLawrence · public	$36,913	$49,969	$22,415	61%
5	Pittsburg StatePittsburg · public	$36,197	$43,281	$22,951	63%
6	Emporia StateEmporia · public	$35,389	$50,193	$19,500	55%
7	Friends UniversityWichita · private nonprofit	$32,760	Not reported	$21,527	66%
8	Wichita StateWichita · public	$32,275	$44,476	$27,000	84%
9	University of Saint MaryLeavenworth · private nonprofit	$31,177	$40,393	$31,000	99%
10	Benedictine CollegeAtchison · private nonprofit	$28,149	$50,845	$25,443	90%

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

Debt and first-year pay at every Kansas psychology 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 psychology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists

$76,690

Median pay in Kansas. 400 people work in this job in Kansas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 12% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.

Bottom 10%: $47,620Top 10%: $151,800

Social Science Research Assistants

$67,740

Median pay in Kansas. 170 people work in this job in Kansas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $43,140Top 10%: $67,740

Industrial-Organizational Psychologists

$193,950

Median pay nationwide. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 300 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Common questions

Fort Hays State in Hays reports the highest median first-year pay, $40,009. Its median federal debt is $29,000.

Psychology (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked875 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 psychology 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