Which New Jersey accounting program has the lowest debt?

Montclair State reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,500, with first-year pay of $56,917.

How much do accounting graduates earn in New Jersey?

The median across 15 New Jersey accounting bachelor's programs is $53,852 in the first year after graduating and $78,462 five years after.

How many accounting bachelor's programs are in New Jersey?

15 New Jersey programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 15 of them also report federal debt.

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

15 programs report first-year pay
15 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 New Jersey accounting bachelor's program pays its graduates $53,852 in their first year, $207 less than the national median. TCNJ reports the highest first-year pay ($74,403), and Montclair State the lowest median debt ($20,500).

Median first-year pay$53,852National $54,059

Median pay after 5 years$78,462National $71,308

Median federal debt$24,489National $24,958

Debt-to-earnings44%National 45%

All 15 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	TCNJEwing · public	$74,403	$98,331	$22,500	30%
2	Seton Hall UniversitySouth Orange · private nonprofit	$69,411	$99,935	$25,000	36%
3	RutgersNew Brunswick · public	$68,141	$92,382	$22,770	33%
4	Ramapo College of New JerseyMahwah · public	$66,615	$91,549	$25,000	38%
5	Rider UniversityLawrenceville · private nonprofit	$65,849	$78,774	$25,536	39%
6	Thomas Edison State UniversityTrenton · public	$56,988	$78,149	$21,086	37%
7	Montclair StateMontclair · public	$56,917	$89,450	$20,500	36%
8	Georgian Court UniversityLakewood · private nonprofit	$53,852	$64,770	$23,500	44%
9	Fairleigh Dickinson University-Metropolitan CampusTeaneck · private nonprofit	$53,129	$85,640	$25,000	47%
10	Rowan UniversityGlassboro · public	$52,363	$77,306	$24,489	47%
11	Kean UniversityUnion · public	$46,386	$64,843	$26,999	58%
12	William Paterson University of New JerseyWayne · public	$45,589	$66,639	$24,500	54%
13	New Jersey City UniversityJersey City · public	$41,542	$66,582	$22,378	54%
14	Saint Peter's UniversityJersey City · private nonprofit	$40,562	$82,895	$21,500	53%
15	Berkeley College-Woodland ParkWoodland Park · private for-profit	$40,278	$60,184	$36,391	90%

Debt and first-year pay at every New Jersey accounting program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 15 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

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

$100,830

Median pay in New Jersey. 42,250 people work in this job in New Jersey. 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%: $65,710Top 10%: $167,080

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

$58,300

Median pay in New Jersey. 37,550 people work in this job in New Jersey. 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%: $41,000Top 10%: $78,910

Financial Managers

$199,110

Median pay in New Jersey. 32,510 people work in this job in New Jersey. 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%: $130,630Top 10%: $337,130

Financial and Investment Analysts

$108,610

Median pay in New Jersey. 10,380 people work in this job in New Jersey. 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%: $71,650Top 10%: $179,770

Common questions

TCNJ in Ewing reports the highest median first-year pay, $74,403. Its median federal debt is $22,500.

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 New Jersey 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