Business Administration (Certificate) Programs in Kentucky, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt
- 10 programs report first-year pay
- 9 also report federal debt
- Certificate in Business Administration, Management and Operations
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
The median Kentucky business administration certificate program pays its graduates $35,389 in their first year, $2,993 less than the national median. Owensboro Community and Technical College reports the highest first-year pay ($41,251), and Owensboro Community and Technical College the lowest median debt ($7,246).
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.
Madisonville Community College reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. 2 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.
Debt and first-year pay at every Kentucky business administration 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 9 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Quick picks
Highest first-year pay
Lowest median debt
"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 business administration, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
General and Operations Managers
$79,370Median pay in Kentucky. 52,100 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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.
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers
$63,180Median pay in Kentucky. 19,670 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 127,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers
$40,080Median pay in Kentucky. 18,290 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 113,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Project Management Specialists
$81,700Median pay in Kentucky. 10,250 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 76,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Common questions
Owensboro Community and Technical College in Owensboro reports the highest median first-year pay, $41,251. Its median federal debt is $7,246.
Owensboro Community and Technical College reports the lowest median federal debt, $7,246, with first-year pay of $41,251.
The median across 10 Kentucky business administration certificate programs is $35,389 in the first year after graduating.
10 Kentucky programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 9 of them also report federal debt.
Related pages
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 business administration certificate 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