Which Missouri accounting program has the lowest debt?

Southeast Missouri State reports the lowest median federal debt, $19,250, with first-year pay of $53,737.

How much do accounting graduates earn in Missouri?

The median across 17 Missouri accounting bachelor's programs is $50,801 in the first year after graduating and $68,331 five years after.

How many accounting bachelor's programs are in Missouri?

17 Missouri programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 17 of them also report federal debt.

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

17 programs report first-year pay
17 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 Missouri accounting bachelor's program pays its graduates $50,801 in their first year, $3,258 less than the national median. University of Missouri reports the highest first-year pay ($65,057), and Southeast Missouri State the lowest median debt ($19,250).

Median first-year pay$50,801National $54,059

Median pay after 5 years$68,331National $71,308

Median federal debt$25,252National $24,958

Debt-to-earnings47%National 45%

All 17 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 MissouriColumbia · public	$65,057	$96,383	$20,707	32%
2	Saint Louis UniversitySaint Louis · private nonprofit	$63,153	Not reported	$26,820	42%
3	Maryville University of Saint LouisSaint Louis · private nonprofit	$61,237	$72,283	$25,125	41%
4	Truman StateKirksville · public	$59,919	$74,434	$23,250	39%
5	University of Central MissouriWarrensburg · public	$56,565	$68,331	$25,591	45%
6	UMSLSaint Louis · public	$55,615	$74,336	$21,300	38%
7	UMKCKansas City · public	$54,357	$75,841	$22,350	41%
8	Southeast Missouri StateCape Girardeau · public	$53,737	$71,347	$19,250	36%
9	Park UniversityParkville · private nonprofit	$50,801	$72,271	$28,461	56%
10	Missouri StateSpringfield · public	$49,634	$66,988	$23,394	47%
11	Culver-Stockton CollegeCanton · private nonprofit	$49,004	Not reported	$26,000	53%
12	Missouri Western StateSaint Joseph · public	$47,202	$60,816	$26,000	55%
13	Columbia College (Missouri)Columbia · private nonprofit	$46,905	$59,113	$25,379	54%
14	Lindenwood UniversitySaint Charles · private nonprofit	$46,842	$64,473	$26,500	57%
15	Missouri Baptist UniversitySaint Louis · private nonprofit	$45,681	$58,713	$24,377	53%
16	Central Methodist University-College of Liberal Arts and SciencesFayette · private nonprofit	$45,023	$47,655	$25,418	56%
17	Harris-Stowe StateSaint Louis · public	$33,025	Not reported	$35,584	108%

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

Debt and first-year pay at every Missouri accounting program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 17 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

University of Missouri$65,057
Saint Louis University$63,153
Maryville University of Saint Louis$61,237
Truman State$59,919
University of Central Missouri$56,565

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

$76,590

Median pay in Missouri. 28,000 people work in this job in Missouri. 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%: $49,290Top 10%: $128,300

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

$47,990

Median pay in Missouri. 21,400 people work in this job in Missouri. 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%: $34,570Top 10%: $68,180

Financial Managers

$143,460

Median pay in Missouri. 13,330 people work in this job in Missouri. 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%: $86,950Top 10%: $273,420

Financial and Investment Analysts

$98,420

Median pay in Missouri. 4,430 people work in this job in Missouri. 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%: $60,500Top 10%: $160,540

Common questions

University of Missouri in Columbia reports the highest median first-year pay, $65,057. Its median federal debt is $20,707.

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 Missouri 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