How much do Minnesota college graduates earn?

The median bachelor's program in Minnesota pays its graduates $44,169 in their first year, the median associate's program $46,775, and the median certificate program $43,200.

How much student debt do Minnesota graduates have?

The median bachelor's program in Minnesota leaves its graduates with $25,812 in federal debt, the median associate's program $20,000, and the median certificate program $12,500, all higher than the national medians.

How many Minnesota colleges report graduate pay?

70 Minnesota schools report first-year pay for at least one program, 919 programs in all. 66 of them have at least one program with its own page here.

Minnesota Colleges and Majors, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

919 programs report first-year pay
66 schools with program pages
50 field rankings

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BEA price parities 2024

The short answer

The median Minnesota bachelor's program pays its graduates $44,169 in their first year, $4,127 more than the national median. Of the 32 bachelor's fields ranked in Minnesota, nursing pays the most ($75,499) and fine and studio arts the least ($28,428). The median bachelor's program leaves its graduates with $25,812 in federal debt, compared with $25,000 nationally.

Median first-year pay, bachelor's$44,169Across 596 programs. National $40,042

Median pay after 5 years, bachelor's$60,399Across 585 programs. National $57,933

Median federal debt, bachelor's$25,812Across 613 programs. National $25,000

Prices compared with the US1% lowerBEA price level 98.6, US average 100

Pay and debt by credential

Medians across every Minnesota program at each credential that reports the figure, next to the national median.

Credential	Programs	Year 1 pay	National	Debt	National
Bachelor's	596	$44,169	$40,042	$25,812	$25,000
Associate's	191	$46,775	$38,507	$20,000	$15,186
Certificate	132	$43,200	$31,106	$12,500	$10,780

Bachelor's fields in Minnesota, ranked

Each row is one field's median across its Minnesota bachelor's programs. Field names link to the full ranking of those programs.

#	Field	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
1	Nursing (BSN)	23	$75,499	$27,990
2	Computer and Information Science	7	$73,942	$25,557
3	Computer Science	13	$72,865	$23,875
4	Electrical Engineering	5	$71,676	$27,000
5	Mechanical Engineering	5	$68,919	$27,000
6	Accounting	23	$58,497	$26,978
7	Mathematics	5	$57,166	$23,000
8	Economics	10	$56,570	$24,600
9	Health and Medical Administration	10	$55,037	$33,475
10	Business Administration	28	$52,847	$26,000
11	Human Resources	9	$52,667	$29,293
12	Finance	15	$52,188	$24,242
13	Marketing	17	$49,439	$25,000
14	Criminal Justice	12	$48,940	$27,538
15	Special Education	5	$46,697	$27,000
16	Social Work	13	$44,546	$27,000
17	Subject-Area Teacher Education	15	$44,360	$27,000
18	Teacher Education	24	$42,495	$26,735
19	Other Interdisciplinary Studies	7	$42,192	$30,038
20	Sociology	6	$40,540	$27,000
21	Communications	19	$40,423	$26,000
22	Public Health	7	$38,475	$27,000
23	Experimental Psychology	5	$36,600	$25,000
24	Psychology	23	$36,243	$26,024
25	Biology	25	$35,984	$25,499
26	Environmental Science and Conservation	10	$35,509	$24,250
27	Political Science	15	$35,104	$23,079
28	Romance Languages	6	$34,970	$22,829
29	Design and Applied Arts	11	$34,627	$27,000
30	Kinesiology and Exercise Science	14	$33,316	$25,000
31	English	10	$29,445	$25,715
32	Fine and Studio Arts	8	$28,428	$27,000

Some nursing bachelor's programs are for nurses who are already licensed and working (RN-to-BSN). College Scorecard counts them with programs for new students, and their graduates' pay reflects years of nursing experience, so high pay at a program here may not mean higher starting pay for a new nurse.

Associate's fields in Minnesota, ranked

Each row is one field's median across its Minnesota associate's programs. Field names link to the full ranking of those programs.

#	Field	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
1	Nursing (ADN)	23	$66,484	$27,655
2	Electromechanical Technology	8	$61,864	$15,535
3	Diagnostic and Treatment Professions	12	$58,851	$23,673
4	Vehicle Maintenance and Repair	9	$51,478	$12,000
5	Criminal Justice	11	$50,959	$17,516
6	Dental Hygiene and Assisting	8	$47,297	$20,250
7	Information Technology	5	$44,549	$18,990
8	Accounting	7	$43,520	$21,776
9	Business Administration	11	$41,301	$18,713
10	Health and Medical Administration	5	$40,206	$26,875
11	Allied Health and Medical Assisting	8	$38,930	$26,612
12	Liberal Arts and General Studies	23	$32,056	$13,156

Certificate fields in Minnesota, ranked

Each row is one field's median across its Minnesota certificate programs. Field names link to the full ranking of those programs.

#	Field	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
1	Welding and Machining	13	$49,342	$9,415
2	Electrician Training	11	$46,852	$12,000
3	Practical Nursing	18	$42,897	$18,866
4	Vehicle Maintenance and Repair	13	$41,672	$11,651
5	Health and Medical Administration	7	$32,530	$22,375
6	Cosmetology	8	$24,299	$9,941

66 Minnesota schools

Every Minnesota school with at least one program page. School names link to the school's page, which ranks all its programs. Schools with one program link straight to that program.

School	City	Type	Programs
Alexandria Technical & Community College	Alexandria	Public	16
Anoka Technical College	Anoka	Public	10
Anoka-Ramsey Community College	Coon Rapids	Public	5
Augsburg University	Minneapolis	Private nonprofit	18
Aveda Arts & Sciences Institute Minneapolis	Minneapolis	For-profit	2
Bemidji State	Bemidji	Public	16
Bethany Lutheran CollegeBusiness Administration (Bachelor's)	Mankato	Private nonprofit	1
Bethel University (Minnesota)	Saint Paul	Private nonprofit	12
Capella University	Minneapolis	For-profit	11
Carleton College	Northfield	Private nonprofit	7
Central Lakes College-Brainerd	Brainerd	Public	10
Century College (Minnesota)	White Bear Lake	Public	14
College of Saint Benedict	Saint Joseph	Private nonprofit	9
College of Saint Scholastica	Duluth	Private nonprofit	11
Concordia College at Moorhead	Moorhead	Private nonprofit	12
Concordia University-Saint Paul	Saint Paul	Private nonprofit	16
Crown College	Saint Bonifacius	Private nonprofit	5
Dakota County Technical College	Rosemount	Public	15
Dunwoody College of Technology	Minneapolis	Private nonprofit	16
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College	Cloquet	Public	3
Gustavus Adolphus College	Saint Peter	Private nonprofit	14
Hamline University	Saint Paul	Private nonprofit	16
Hennepin Technical College	Brooklyn Park	Public	15
Inver Hills Community College	Inver Grove Heights	Public	4
Lake Superior College	Duluth	Public	13
Macalester College	Saint Paul	Private nonprofit	11
Martin Luther College	New Ulm	Private nonprofit	2
Metropolitan State University	Saint Paul	Public	26
Minneapolis College of Art and Design	Minneapolis	Private nonprofit	4
Minneapolis Community and Technical College	Minneapolis	Public	17
Minnesota North College	Hibbing	Public	10
Minnesota State College Southeast	Winona	Public	6
Minnesota State Community and Technical College	Fergus Falls	Public	17
Minnesota State Mankato	Mankato	Public	39
Minnesota State Moorhead	Moorhead	Public	22
Minnesota West Community and Technical College	Granite Falls	Public	8
Model College of Hair DesignCosmetology (Certificate)	Saint Cloud	For-profit	1
Normandale Community College	Bloomington	Public	3
North Central University	Minneapolis	Private nonprofit	6
North Hennepin Community College	Brooklyn Park	Public	8
Northland Community and Technical College	Thief River Falls	Public	8
Northwest Technical College	Bemidji	Public	6
Nova Academy of CosmetologyCosmetology (Certificate)	Rochester	For-profit	1
Pine Technical & Community College	Pine City	Public	3
Rasmussen University	St. Cloud	For-profit	40
Ridgewater College	Willmar	Public	13
Riverland Community College	Austin	Public	5
Rochester Community and Technical College	Rochester	Public	14
Saint Cloud State	Saint Cloud	Public	34
Saint Johns University	Collegeville	Private nonprofit	8
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota	Winona	Private nonprofit	9
Saint Paul College	Saint Paul	Public	15
South Central College	North Mankato	Public	7
Southwest Minnesota State	Marshall	Public	12
St Catherine University	Saint Paul	Private nonprofit	14
St Cloud Technical and Community College	Saint Cloud	Public	15
St Olaf College	Northfield	Private nonprofit	20
Summit Academy Opportunities Industrialization Center	Minneapolis	Private nonprofit	4
University of Minnesota	Minneapolis	Public	91
University of Minnesota-Crookston	Crookston	Public	15
University of Minnesota-Duluth	Duluth	Public	41
University of Minnesota-Morris	Morris	Public	5
University of Northwestern-St Paul	Saint Paul	Private nonprofit	18
University of St Thomas (Minnesota)	Saint Paul	Private nonprofit	24
Walden University	Minneapolis	For-profit	12
Winona State	Winona	Public	28

"Programs" counts the school's programs that report first-year pay.

Common questions

The median nursing bachelor's program in Minnesota pays its graduates $75,499 in their first year, the most of 32 bachelor's fields ranked here. Computer and information science is next, at $73,942.

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.
Medians are across programs, not students: each program counts once, however many graduates it has.
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 Minnesota figures when their main campus is in another state.
Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024