Which Louisiana accounting program has the lowest debt?

UL Monroe reports the lowest median federal debt, $12,834, with first-year pay of $47,974.

How much do accounting graduates earn in Louisiana?

The median across 11 Louisiana accounting bachelor's programs is $46,458 in the first year after graduating and $58,580 five years after.

How many accounting bachelor's programs are in Louisiana?

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

Accounting (Bachelor's) Programs in Louisiana, 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 Louisiana accounting bachelor's program pays its graduates $46,458 in their first year, $7,601 less than the national median. LSU reports the highest first-year pay ($56,910), and UL Monroe the lowest median debt ($12,834).

Median first-year pay$46,458National $54,059

Median pay after 5 years$58,580National $71,308

Median federal debt$22,620National $24,958

Debt-to-earnings49%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	LSUBaton Rouge · public	$56,910	$81,419	$19,600	34%
2	Northwestern State University of LouisianaNatchitoches · public	$48,895	$43,280	$29,371	60%
3	UL MonroeMonroe · public	$47,974	$67,181	$12,834	27%
4	Southeastern Louisiana UniversityHammond · public	$47,395	$59,218	$21,250	45%
5	McNeese StateLake Charles · public	$46,774	$50,857	$20,500	44%
6	UL LafayetteLafayette · public	$46,458	$57,942	$23,240	50%
7	Louisiana Tech UniversityRuston · public	$44,846	$63,449	$22,000	49%
8	Southern UniversityBaton Rouge · public	$42,524	$53,349	$30,750	72%
9	Nicholls StateThibodaux · public	$42,434	$46,209	$23,410	55%
10	University of New OrleansNew Orleans · public	$41,540	$59,862	$18,069	43%
11	LSU ShreveportShreveport · public	$37,466	$68,762	$30,624	82%

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

Debt and first-year pay at every Louisiana accounting program

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

LSU$56,910
Northwestern State University of Louisiana$48,895
UL Monroe$47,974
Southeastern Louisiana University$47,395
McNeese State$46,774

Lowest median debt

UL Monroe$12,834
University of New Orleans$18,069
LSU$19,600
McNeese State$20,500
Southeastern Louisiana University$21,250

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

$73,810

Median pay in Louisiana. 14,050 people work in this job in Louisiana. 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%: $48,950Top 10%: $117,110

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

$44,890

Median pay in Louisiana. 18,980 people work in this job in Louisiana. 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%: $28,760Top 10%: $65,220

Financial Managers

$126,800

Median pay in Louisiana. 7,070 people work in this job in Louisiana. 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%: $78,040Top 10%: $220,870

Financial and Investment Analysts

$75,680

Median pay in Louisiana. 1,450 people work in this job in Louisiana. 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%: $49,550Top 10%: $132,230

Common questions

LSU in Baton Rouge reports the highest median first-year pay, $56,910. Its median federal debt is $19,600.

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 Louisiana 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