Which Pennsylvania accounting program has the lowest debt?

Lehigh University reports the lowest median federal debt, $23,179, with first-year pay of $77,026.

How much do accounting graduates earn in Pennsylvania?

The median across 41 Pennsylvania accounting bachelor's programs is $57,685 in the first year after graduating and $73,187 five years after.

How many accounting bachelor's programs are in Pennsylvania?

41 Pennsylvania programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 38 of them also report federal debt.

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

41 programs report first-year pay
38 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 Pennsylvania accounting bachelor's program pays its graduates $57,685 in their first year, $3,626 more than the national median. Villanova University reports the highest first-year pay ($77,966), and Lehigh University the lowest median debt ($23,179).

Median first-year pay$57,685National $54,059

Median pay after 5 years$73,187National $71,308

Median federal debt$27,000National $24,958

Debt-to-earnings46%National 45%

All 41 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	Villanova UniversityVillanova · private nonprofit	$77,966	$114,801	$25,858	33%
2	Lehigh UniversityBethlehem · private nonprofit	$77,026	$118,286	$23,179	30%
3	Bucknell UniversityLewisburg · private nonprofit	$75,776	$121,826	$26,881	35%
4	University of ScrantonScranton · private nonprofit	$70,453	$100,591	$27,000	38%
5	Drexel UniversityPhiladelphia · private nonprofit	$70,069	$90,655	$28,832	41%
6	Saint Joseph's UniversityPhiladelphia · private nonprofit	$69,807	$99,815	$24,903	36%
7	Muhlenberg CollegeAllentown · private nonprofit	$68,852	$92,565	$27,000	39%
8	Susquehanna UniversitySelinsgrove · private nonprofit	$65,209	$81,585	$27,000	41%
9	Widener UniversityChester · private nonprofit	$65,071	$80,500	$27,000	41%
10	Penn StateUniversity Park · public	$63,425	$87,152	$26,000	41%
11	Temple UniversityPhiladelphia · public	$63,202	$78,957	$26,000	41%
12	King's CollegeWilkes-Barre · private nonprofit	$61,680	$65,162	$27,000	44%
13	Elizabethtown CollegeElizabethtown · private nonprofit	$61,602	$76,209	$27,000	44%
14	Albright CollegeReading · private nonprofit	$61,245	$76,251	$27,000	44%
15	Duquesne UniversityPittsburgh · private nonprofit	$60,666	$74,343	$26,000	43%
16	Messiah UniversityMechanicsburg · private nonprofit	$59,833	$80,555	$23,625	39%
17	Washington & Jefferson CollegeWashington · private nonprofit	$59,401	$78,640	$27,000	45%
18	DeSales UniversityCenter Valley · private nonprofit	$58,809	$74,161	$27,000	46%
19	Shippensburg University of PennsylvaniaShippensburg · public	$58,049	$72,328	$26,949	46%
20	University of PittsburghPittsburgh · public	$57,966	$85,705	$25,299	44%
21	Robert Morris UniversityMoon Township · private nonprofit	$57,685	$71,490	$26,000	45%
22	York College of PennsylvaniaYork · private nonprofit	$56,583	$67,037	$27,000	48%
23	La Salle UniversityPhiladelphia · private nonprofit	$54,772	$79,680	$27,000	49%
24	Wilkes UniversityWilkes-Barre · private nonprofit	$53,818	$85,792	$26,000	48%
25	Alvernia UniversityReading · private nonprofit	$53,428	$66,067	$25,500	48%
26	Westminster College (Pennsylvania)New Wilmington · private nonprofit	$52,721	$67,590	$26,638	51%
27	Central Penn CollegeSummerdale · private for-profit	$52,185	Not reported	$48,383	93%
28	Moravian UniversityBethlehem · private nonprofit	$51,980	Not reported	$27,000	52%
29	Chestnut Hill CollegePhiladelphia · private nonprofit	$50,408	$66,994	$27,000	54%
30	Saint Francis UniversityLoretto · private nonprofit	$49,800	$56,352	$31,000	62%
31	Saint Vincent CollegeLatrobe · private nonprofit	$49,614	$73,610	Not reported	Not reported
32	Indiana University of PennsylvaniaIndiana · public	$49,454	$66,277	$27,000	55%
33	Pennsylvania Western UniversityCalifornia · public	$48,418	$64,588	Not reported	Not reported
34	Commonwealth University of PennsylvaniaBloomsburg · public	$47,640	$66,769	$27,000	57%
35	Holy Family UniversityPhiladelphia · private nonprofit	$47,059	$67,590	$27,000	57%
36	Arcadia UniversityGlenside · private nonprofit	$46,846	$66,246	$27,000	58%
37	Misericordia UniversityDallas · private nonprofit	$46,683	$56,409	$28,875	62%
38	Slippery Rock University of PennsylvaniaSlippery Rock · public	$46,359	$59,998	$23,590	51%
39	Geneva CollegeBeaver Falls · private nonprofit	$43,163	$80,702	Not reported	Not reported
40	Keystone CollegeLa Plume · private nonprofit	$42,863	$55,091	$27,949	65%
41	La Roche UniversityPittsburgh · private nonprofit	$40,085	$68,559	$25,000	62%

Saint Vincent College, Pennsylvania Western University, and Geneva College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. 3 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Pennsylvania accounting program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 38 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Lehigh University$23,179
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania$23,590
Messiah University$23,625
Saint Joseph's University$24,903
La Roche University$25,000

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

$79,000

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 54,290 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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%: $50,680Top 10%: $130,270

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

$48,440

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 48,920 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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%: $34,960Top 10%: $69,570

Financial Managers

$145,610

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 32,180 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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%: $83,180Top 10%: $286,240

Financial and Investment Analysts

$84,460

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 13,310 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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%: $57,260Top 10%: $155,320

Common questions

Villanova University in Villanova reports the highest median first-year pay, $77,966. Its median federal debt is $25,858.

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 Pennsylvania 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