Which Kentucky accounting program has the lowest debt?

Murray State reports the lowest median federal debt, $18,750, with first-year pay of $42,322.

How much do accounting graduates earn in Kentucky?

The median across 11 Kentucky accounting bachelor's programs is $50,104 in the first year after graduating and $69,638 five years after.

How many accounting bachelor's programs are in Kentucky?

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

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

11 programs report first-year pay
11 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 Kentucky accounting bachelor's program pays its graduates $50,104 in their first year, $3,955 less than the national median. University of Kentucky reports the highest first-year pay ($59,474), and Murray State the lowest median debt ($18,750).

Median first-year pay$50,104National $54,059

Median pay after 5 years$69,638National $71,308

Median federal debt$26,000National $24,958

Debt-to-earnings46%National 45%

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	University of KentuckyLexington · public	$59,474	$79,925	$23,250	39%
2	Transylvania UniversityLexington · private nonprofit	$58,803	$71,095	$27,000	46%
3	Thomas More UniversityCrestview Hills · private nonprofit	$55,385	Not reported	$27,000	49%
4	Northern Kentucky UniversityHighland Heights · public	$52,425	$69,638	$23,750	45%
5	University of LouisvilleLouisville · public	$51,923	$70,410	$19,374	37%
6	Western Kentucky UniversityBowling Green · public	$50,104	$71,617	$25,000	50%
7	University of the CumberlandsWilliamsburg · private nonprofit	$50,102	Not reported	$22,000	44%
8	Sullivan UniversityLouisville · private for-profit	$46,444	$55,812	$37,238	80%
9	Morehead StateMorehead · public	$43,607	$55,484	$27,440	63%
10	Murray StateMurray · public	$42,322	$50,198	$18,750	44%
11	Eastern Kentucky UniversityRichmond · public	$40,726	$57,039	$27,000	66%

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

Debt and first-year pay at every Kentucky accounting program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 11 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

$75,270

Median pay in Kentucky. 11,930 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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%: $50,750Top 10%: $121,230

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

$46,550

Median pay in Kentucky. 23,480 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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%: $30,090Top 10%: $66,930

Financial Managers

$130,650

Median pay in Kentucky. 6,630 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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%: $82,110Top 10%: $223,290

Financial and Investment Analysts

$81,660

Median pay in Kentucky. 2,460 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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%: $49,930Top 10%: $136,480

Common questions

University of Kentucky in Lexington reports the highest median first-year pay, $59,474. Its median federal debt is $23,250.

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 Kentucky 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