Which Kentucky finance program has the lowest debt?

Eastern Kentucky University reports the lowest median federal debt, $16,400, with first-year pay of $41,328.

How much do finance graduates earn in Kentucky?

The median across 7 Kentucky finance bachelor's programs is $44,355 in the first year after graduating and $68,140 five years after.

How many finance bachelor's programs are in Kentucky?

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

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

7 programs report first-year pay
6 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Finance and Financial Management Services

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Kentucky finance bachelor's program pays its graduates $44,355 in their first year, $9,018 less than the national median. University of Kentucky reports the highest first-year pay ($58,422), and Eastern Kentucky University the lowest median debt ($16,400).

Median first-year pay$44,355National $53,373

Median pay after 5 years$68,140National $77,457

Median federal debt$21,938National $23,250

Debt-to-earnings44%National 44%

All 7 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	$58,422	$80,396	$22,375	38%
2	University of LouisvilleLouisville · public	$52,167	$73,986	$22,500	43%
3	Northern Kentucky UniversityHighland Heights · public	$50,457	$69,586	$25,287	50%
4	Western Kentucky UniversityBowling Green · public	$44,355	$66,693	$19,500	44%
5	Murray StateMurray · public	$43,320	$56,973	$21,500	50%
6	Morehead StateMorehead · public	$41,360	$53,768	Not reported	Not reported
7	Eastern Kentucky UniversityRichmond · public	$41,328	Not reported	$16,400	40%

Morehead State reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

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

General and Operations Managers

$79,370

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $40,500Top 10%: $176,820

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

Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents

$59,110

Median pay in Kentucky. 5,340 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 35,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $45,640Top 10%: $127,820

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, $58,422. Its median federal debt is $22,375.

Finance (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked407 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 finance 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