Which Ohio business economics program has the lowest debt?

Ohio State reports the lowest median federal debt, $19,500, with first-year pay of $61,979.

How much do business economics graduates earn in Ohio?

The median across 6 Ohio business economics bachelor's programs is $59,720 in the first year after graduating and $90,142 five years after.

How many business economics bachelor's programs are in Ohio?

6 Ohio programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

Business Economics (Bachelor's) Programs in Ohio, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

6 programs report first-year pay
5 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Business/Managerial Economics

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Ohio business economics bachelor's program pays its graduates $59,720 in their first year, $7,633 more than the national median. Ohio State reports the highest first-year pay ($61,979), and Ohio State the lowest median debt ($19,500).

Median first-year pay$59,720National $52,087

Median pay after 5 years$90,142National $79,847

Median federal debt$24,274National $22,419

Debt-to-earnings40%National 42%

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	Ohio StateColumbus · public	$61,979	$82,890	$19,500	31%
2	Miami UniversityOxford · public	$60,596	$100,648	$24,000	40%
3	Ohio UniversityAthens · public	$60,236	Not reported	$21,000	35%
4	Capital UniversityColumbus · private nonprofit	$59,203	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
5	University of DaytonDayton · private nonprofit	$55,871	$97,394	$24,548	44%
6	Kent StateKent · public	$51,622	$65,906	$25,000	48%

Capital University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Ohio business economics program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Ohio State$61,979
Miami University$60,596
Ohio University$60,236
Capital University$59,203
University of Dayton$55,871

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

Management Analysts

$94,270

Median pay in Ohio. 25,120 people work in this job in Ohio. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 94,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $61,600Top 10%: $146,740

Financial Risk Specialists

$98,650

Median pay in Ohio. 2,110 people work in this job in Ohio. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $62,710Top 10%: $163,210

Economists

$120,000

Median pay in Ohio. 140 people work in this job in Ohio. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $69,770Top 10%: $216,920

Survey Researchers

$57,630

Median pay in Ohio. 320 people work in this job in Ohio. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 600 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $36,130Top 10%: $112,490

Common questions

Ohio State in Columbus reports the highest median first-year pay, $61,979. Its median federal debt is $19,500.

Business Economics (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked75 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 Ohio rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the business economics 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