Which Minnesota business administration program has the lowest debt?

Alexandria Technical & Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $12,375, with first-year pay of $35,155.

How much do business administration graduates earn in Minnesota?

The median across 11 Minnesota business administration associate's programs is $41,301 in the first year after graduating and $51,730 five years after.

How many business administration associate's programs are in Minnesota?

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

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

11 programs report first-year pay
8 also report federal debt
Associate's in Business Administration, Management and Operations

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Minnesota business administration associate's program pays its graduates $41,301 in their first year, $6,686 more than the national median. North Hennepin Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($47,361), and Alexandria Technical & Community College the lowest median debt ($12,375).

Median first-year pay$41,301National $34,615

Median pay after 5 years$51,730National $44,516

Median federal debt$18,713National $13,418

Debt-to-earnings43%National 38%

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	North Hennepin Community CollegeBrooklyn Park · public	$47,361	$53,568	$21,210	45%
2	Dakota County Technical CollegeRosemount · public	$45,143	$66,791	$18,649	41%
3	Rasmussen UniversitySt. Cloud · private for-profit	$43,736	$50,641	$25,555	58%
4	Rochester Community and Technical CollegeRochester · public	$43,642	$50,323	$14,640	34%
5	South Central CollegeNorth Mankato · public	$42,589	$44,914	Not reported	Not reported
6	Lake Superior CollegeDuluth · public	$41,301	$55,798	$15,250	37%
7	Minnesota West Community and Technical CollegeGranite Falls · public	$40,898	$39,956	Not reported	Not reported
8	Alexandria Technical & Community CollegeAlexandria · public	$35,155	$37,161	$12,375	35%
9	St Cloud Technical and Community CollegeSaint Cloud · public	$32,558	$44,329	$18,776	58%
10	Minneapolis Community and Technical CollegeMinneapolis · public	$28,878	$47,836	$12,800	44%
11	Central Lakes College-BrainerdBrainerd · public	$23,883	$37,314	Not reported	Not reported

South Central College, Minnesota West Community and Technical College, and Central Lakes College-Brainerd report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. 2 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Minnesota business administration 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 8 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

North Hennepin Community College$47,361
Dakota County Technical College$45,143
Rasmussen University$43,736
Rochester Community and Technical College$43,642
South Central College$42,589

Lowest median debt

Alexandria Technical & Community College$12,375
Minneapolis Community and Technical College$12,800
Rochester Community and Technical College$14,640
Lake Superior College$15,250
Dakota County Technical College$18,649

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

General and Operations Managers

$99,340

Median pay in Minnesota. 72,860 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $46,960Top 10%: $209,970

First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

$76,440

Median pay in Minnesota. 21,690 people work in this job in Minnesota. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 127,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $49,920Top 10%: $106,100

First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers

$48,770

Median pay in Minnesota. 21,530 people work in this job in Minnesota. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 113,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $36,550Top 10%: $75,900

Project Management Specialists

$97,860

Median pay in Minnesota. 18,850 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $65,040Top 10%: $141,490

Common questions

North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park reports the highest median first-year pay, $47,361. Its median federal debt is $21,210.

Business Administration (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked337 programs by pay and debt Business Administration (Bachelor's) programs in Minnesota, ranked28 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 business administration 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