Which Massachusetts business program has the lowest debt?

Northeastern University reports the lowest median federal debt, $24,000, with first-year pay of $74,868.

How much do business graduates earn in Massachusetts?

The median across 8 Massachusetts business bachelor's programs is $50,848 in the first year after graduating and $65,586 five years after.

How many business bachelor's programs are in Massachusetts?

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

Business (Bachelor's) Programs in Massachusetts, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

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

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Massachusetts business bachelor's program pays its graduates $50,848 in their first year, $4,141 more than the national median. Northeastern University reports the highest first-year pay ($74,868), and Northeastern University the lowest median debt ($24,000).

Median first-year pay$50,848National $46,707

Median pay after 5 years$65,586National $64,119

Median federal debt$26,000National $25,625

Debt-to-earnings51%National 54%

All 8 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	Northeastern UniversityBoston · private nonprofit	$74,868	$110,708	$24,000	32%
2	UMass DartmouthNorth Dartmouth · public	$59,287	Not reported	$24,973	42%
3	Brandeis UniversityWaltham · private nonprofit	$55,806	$96,146	$26,000	47%
4	Western New England UniversitySpringfield · private nonprofit	$50,921	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
5	Framingham StateFramingham · public	$50,775	$60,766	$26,000	51%
6	Regis CollegeWeston · private nonprofit	$49,677	$52,270	$27,000	54%
7	Nichols CollegeDudley · private nonprofit	$44,801	$65,586	$25,356	57%
8	Westfield StateWestfield · public	$41,862	$63,772	$26,000	62%

Western New England University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Massachusetts business program

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

Northeastern University$74,868
UMass Dartmouth$59,287
Brandeis University$55,806
Western New England University$50,921
Framingham State$50,775

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

General and Operations Managers

$127,220

Median pay in Massachusetts. 95,880 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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%: $60,700Top 10%: $314,780

Project Management Specialists

$114,190

Median pay in Massachusetts. 21,960 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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%: $72,800Top 10%: $174,840

Management Analysts

$134,720

Median pay in Massachusetts. 30,060 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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%: $82,490Top 10%: $216,940

Sales Managers

$191,200

Median pay in Massachusetts. 15,010 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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%: $100,510Top 10%: $321,000

Common questions

Northeastern University in Boston reports the highest median first-year pay, $74,868. Its median federal debt is $24,000.

Business (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked206 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 Massachusetts rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the business 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