Which Kentucky marketing program has the lowest debt?

University of Louisville reports the lowest median federal debt, $21,384, with first-year pay of $47,704.

How much do marketing graduates earn in Kentucky?

The median across 7 Kentucky marketing bachelor's programs is $45,042 in the first year after graduating and $58,688 five years after.

How many marketing bachelor's programs are in Kentucky?

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

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

7 programs report first-year pay
7 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Marketing

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Kentucky marketing bachelor's program pays its graduates $45,042 in their first year, $475 more than the national median. University of Kentucky reports the highest first-year pay ($48,100), and University of Louisville the lowest median debt ($21,384).

Median first-year pay$45,042National $44,567

Median pay after 5 years$58,688National $64,125

Median federal debt$23,250National $24,250

Debt-to-earnings50%National 53%

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	$48,100	$68,574	$24,225	50%
2	University of LouisvilleLouisville · public	$47,704	$70,079	$21,384	45%
3	Northern Kentucky UniversityHighland Heights · public	$45,386	$61,687	$22,387	49%
4	Murray StateMurray · public	$45,042	$51,087	$21,997	49%
5	Western Kentucky UniversityBowling Green · public	$42,478	$58,688	$23,250	55%
6	Eastern Kentucky UniversityRichmond · public	$40,968	$53,643	$25,189	61%
7	Morehead StateMorehead · public	$38,636	$53,788	$25,900	67%

Debt and first-year pay at every Kentucky marketing 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 7 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 marketing, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists

$61,480

Median pay in Kentucky. 6,290 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 82,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $37,970Top 10%: $103,300

Sales Managers

$128,650

Median pay in Kentucky. 6,650 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 47,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $67,690Top 10%: $236,990

Marketing Managers

$128,930

Median pay in Kentucky. 1,930 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 34,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $77,340Top 10%: $204,550

Web and Digital Interface Designers

$77,000

Median pay in Kentucky. 590 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $52,750Top 10%: $121,520

Common questions

University of Kentucky in Lexington reports the highest median first-year pay, $48,100. Its median federal debt is $24,225.

Marketing (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked471 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 marketing 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