Which Mississippi accounting program has the lowest debt?

University of Southern Mississippi reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,200, with first-year pay of $40,764.

How much do accounting graduates earn in Mississippi?

The median across 6 Mississippi accounting bachelor's programs is $41,241 in the first year after graduating and $58,783 five years after.

How many accounting bachelor's programs are in Mississippi?

6 Mississippi programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 6 of them also report federal debt.

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

6 programs report first-year pay
6 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 Mississippi accounting bachelor's program pays its graduates $41,241 in their first year, $12,819 less than the national median. Ole Miss reports the highest first-year pay ($59,123), and University of Southern Mississippi the lowest median debt ($20,200).

Median first-year pay$41,241National $54,059

Median pay after 5 years$58,783National $71,308

Median federal debt$23,150National $24,958

Debt-to-earnings59%National 45%

All 6 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	Ole MissUniversity · public	$59,123	$82,084	$23,150	39%
2	Belhaven UniversityJackson · private nonprofit	$43,016	Not reported	$29,000	67%
3	Mississippi StateMississippi State · public	$41,717	$71,913	$21,500	52%
4	University of Southern MississippiHattiesburg · public	$40,764	$53,464	$20,200	50%
5	Jackson StateJackson · public	$40,419	$53,319	$29,500	73%
6	Alcorn StateAlcorn State · public	$27,472	Not reported	$38,000	138%

One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Mississippi accounting program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 6 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Ole Miss$59,123
Belhaven University$43,016
Mississippi State$41,717
University of Southern Mississippi$40,764
Jackson State$40,419

Lowest median debt

University of Southern Mississippi$20,200
Mississippi State$21,500
Ole Miss$23,150
Belhaven University$29,000
Jackson State$29,500

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

$68,100

Median pay in Mississippi. 7,350 people work in this job in Mississippi. 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%: $45,440Top 10%: $120,290

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

$42,840

Median pay in Mississippi. 12,160 people work in this job in Mississippi. 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%: $28,210Top 10%: $62,390

Financial Managers

$111,390

Median pay in Mississippi. 3,470 people work in this job in Mississippi. 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%: $58,250Top 10%: $210,520

Financial and Investment Analysts

$79,580

Median pay in Mississippi. 720 people work in this job in Mississippi. 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%: $50,290Top 10%: $132,440

Common questions

Ole Miss in University reports the highest median first-year pay, $59,123. Its median federal debt is $23,150.

Accounting (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked636 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 Mississippi 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