Which Minnesota accounting program has the lowest debt?

College of Saint Scholastica reports the lowest median federal debt, $22,000, with first-year pay of $55,688.

How much do accounting graduates earn in Minnesota?

The median across 23 Minnesota accounting bachelor's programs is $58,497 in the first year after graduating and $70,411 five years after.

How many accounting bachelor's programs are in Minnesota?

23 Minnesota programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 22 of them also report federal debt.

Accounting (Bachelor's) Programs in Minnesota, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

23 programs report first-year pay
22 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 Minnesota accounting bachelor's program pays its graduates $58,497 in their first year, $4,438 more than the national median. University of Minnesota reports the highest first-year pay ($66,591), and College of Saint Scholastica the lowest median debt ($22,000).

Median first-year pay$58,497National $54,059

Median pay after 5 years$70,411National $71,308

Median federal debt$26,978National $24,958

Debt-to-earnings44%National 45%

All 23 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	University of MinnesotaMinneapolis · public	$66,591	$92,931	$22,342	34%
2	Bethel University (Minnesota)Saint Paul · private nonprofit	$65,587	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
3	University of St Thomas (Minnesota)Saint Paul · private nonprofit	$65,573	$89,852	$25,000	38%
4	Augsburg UniversityMinneapolis · private nonprofit	$64,695	$73,711	$26,996	42%
5	College of Saint BenedictSaint Joseph · private nonprofit	$64,410	$81,021	$26,925	42%
6	Gustavus Adolphus CollegeSaint Peter · private nonprofit	$64,094	$87,570	$26,959	42%
7	University of Northwestern-St PaulSaint Paul · private nonprofit	$62,603	Not reported	$25,874	41%
8	Concordia University-Saint PaulSaint Paul · private nonprofit	$61,360	$61,964	$27,000	44%
9	Saint Johns UniversityCollegeville · private nonprofit	$61,135	$87,842	$27,000	44%
10	Concordia College at MoorheadMoorhead · private nonprofit	$60,584	$78,871	$26,500	44%
11	Minnesota State MankatoMankato · public	$60,573	$76,233	$24,250	40%
12	Saint Cloud StateSaint Cloud · public	$58,497	$73,029	$27,175	46%
13	Bemidji StateBemidji · public	$58,446	$65,245	$30,114	52%
14	Capella UniversityMinneapolis · private for-profit	$57,201	$58,281	$30,795	54%
15	University of Minnesota-CrookstonCrookston · public	$56,627	$65,986	$33,391	59%
16	University of Minnesota-DuluthDuluth · public	$56,146	$76,462	$26,621	47%
17	Winona StateWinona · public	$55,898	$67,731	$23,652	42%
18	College of Saint ScholasticaDuluth · private nonprofit	$55,688	$65,301	$22,000	40%
19	Saint Mary's University of MinnesotaWinona · private nonprofit	$54,833	$70,781	$27,000	49%
20	Metropolitan State UniversitySaint Paul · public	$54,137	$67,821	$32,828	61%
21	Walden UniversityMinneapolis · private for-profit	$53,592	$70,040	$55,084	103%
22	Rasmussen UniversitySt. Cloud · private for-profit	$53,285	$60,866	$39,938	75%
23	Minnesota State MoorheadMoorhead · public	$50,867	$66,436	$22,500	44%

Bethel University (Minnesota) reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Minnesota accounting program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 22 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

University of Minnesota$66,591
Bethel University (Minnesota)$65,587
University of St Thomas (Minnesota)$65,573
Augsburg University$64,695
College of Saint Benedict$64,410

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

Accountants and Auditors

$81,600

Median pay in Minnesota. 30,530 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $58,280Top 10%: $138,960

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

$54,600

Median pay in Minnesota. 26,850 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $37,800Top 10%: $73,450

Financial Managers

$163,410

Median pay in Minnesota. 16,680 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $99,250Top 10%: $277,680

Financial and Investment Analysts

$102,990

Median pay in Minnesota. 7,450 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $65,290Top 10%: $161,580

Common questions

University of Minnesota in Minneapolis reports the highest median first-year pay, $66,591. Its median federal debt is $22,342.

Accounting (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked636 programs by pay and debt Accounting (Associate's) programs in Minnesota, ranked7 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 Minnesota 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