Which Louisiana business program has the lowest debt?

South Louisiana Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $13,446, with first-year pay of $25,179.

How much do business graduates earn in Louisiana?

The median across 7 Louisiana business associate's programs is $32,498 in the first year after graduating and $39,068 five years after.

How many business associate's programs are in Louisiana?

7 Louisiana programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

Business (Associate's) Programs in Louisiana, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

7 programs report first-year pay
5 also report federal debt
Associate's in Business/Commerce, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Louisiana business associate's program pays its graduates $32,498 in their first year, $1,985 less than the national median. Delgado Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($37,206), and South Louisiana Community College the lowest median debt ($13,446).

Median first-year pay$32,498National $34,483

Median pay after 5 years$39,068National $46,978

Median federal debt$16,677National $11,856

Debt-to-earnings59%National 35%

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	Delgado Community CollegeNew Orleans · public	$37,206	$41,632	$22,000	59%
2	Fletcher Technical Community CollegeSchriever · public	$36,296	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
3	Nunez Community CollegeChalmette · public	$32,813	$34,083	$19,587	60%
4	Baton Rouge Community CollegeBaton Rouge · public	$32,498	$42,587	$13,766	42%
5	SOWELA Technical Community CollegeLake Charles · public	$31,941	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
6	Bossier Parish Community CollegeBossier City · public	$31,184	$42,272	$24,353	78%
7	South Louisiana Community CollegeLafayette · public	$25,179	Not reported	$13,446	53%

Fletcher Technical Community College and SOWELA Technical Community College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Louisiana business 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 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Delgado Community College$37,206
Fletcher Technical Community College$36,296
Nunez Community College$32,813
Baton Rouge Community College$32,498
SOWELA Technical Community College$31,941

Lowest median debt

South Louisiana Community College$13,446
Baton Rouge Community College$13,766
Nunez Community College$19,587
Delgado Community College$22,000
Bossier Parish Community College$24,353

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 business, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

General and Operations Managers

$101,790

Median pay in Louisiana. 43,220 people work in this job in Louisiana. 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%: $50,470Top 10%: $219,240

Project Management Specialists

$84,850

Median pay in Louisiana. 8,050 people work in this job in Louisiana. 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.

Bottom 10%: $56,400Top 10%: $143,780

Management Analysts

$95,540

Median pay in Louisiana. 4,760 people work in this job in Louisiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 94,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $57,590Top 10%: $167,980

Sales Managers

$110,700

Median pay in Louisiana. 4,360 people work in this job in Louisiana. 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%: $61,040Top 10%: $217,600

Common questions

Delgado Community College in New Orleans reports the highest median first-year pay, $37,206. Its median federal debt is $22,000.

Business (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked87 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 business associate'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