Which Kentucky psychology program has the lowest debt?

University of the Cumberlands reports the lowest median federal debt, $21,750, with first-year pay of $36,913.

How much do psychology graduates earn in Kentucky?

The median across 14 Kentucky psychology bachelor's programs is $28,790 in the first year after graduating and $42,379 five years after.

How many psychology bachelor's programs are in Kentucky?

14 Kentucky programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 14 of them also report federal debt.

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

14 programs report first-year pay
14 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Psychology, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Kentucky psychology bachelor's program pays its graduates $28,790 in their first year, $2,690 less than the national median. Spalding University reports the highest first-year pay ($40,262), and University of the Cumberlands the lowest median debt ($21,750).

Median first-year pay$28,790National $31,479

Median pay after 5 years$42,379National $49,019

Median federal debt$26,668National $25,624

Debt-to-earnings89%National 78%

All 14 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	Spalding UniversityLouisville · private nonprofit	$40,262	$41,998	$31,750	79%
2	University of the CumberlandsWilliamsburg · private nonprofit	$36,913	$42,393	$21,750	59%
3	Northern Kentucky UniversityHighland Heights · public	$36,209	$42,365	$26,088	72%
4	Georgetown CollegeGeorgetown · private nonprofit	$33,921	$48,044	$27,000	80%
5	Campbellsville UniversityCampbellsville · private nonprofit	$31,478	$36,534	$23,250	74%
6	University of LouisvilleLouisville · public	$30,416	$47,915	$23,500	77%
7	Bellarmine UniversityLouisville · private nonprofit	$29,028	$50,098	$26,376	91%
8	University of KentuckyLexington · public	$28,551	$47,701	$25,000	88%
9	Eastern Kentucky UniversityRichmond · public	$28,273	$40,265	$27,645	98%
10	Midway UniversityMidway · private nonprofit	$27,403	$39,981	$27,000	99%
11	Centre CollegeDanville · private nonprofit	$26,636	$48,226	$27,000	101%
12	Western Kentucky UniversityBowling Green · public	$25,936	$41,167	$24,846	96%
13	Morehead StateMorehead · public	$25,789	$39,199	$23,420	91%
14	Brescia UniversityOwensboro · private nonprofit	$22,619	Not reported	$32,248	143%

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

Debt and first-year pay at every Kentucky psychology 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 14 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

$99,140

Median pay in Kentucky. 710 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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%: $49,220Top 10%: $174,820

Social Science Research Assistants

$66,390

Median pay in Kentucky. 1,190 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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%: $45,050Top 10%: $106,590

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

Spalding University in Louisville reports the highest median first-year pay, $40,262. Its median federal debt is $31,750.

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 Kentucky 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