Which Pennsylvania business administration program has the lowest debt?

Franklin and Marshall College reports the lowest median federal debt, $19,500, with first-year pay of $64,664.

How much do business administration graduates earn in Pennsylvania?

The median across 65 Pennsylvania business administration bachelor's programs is $46,866 in the first year after graduating and $65,063 five years after.

How many business administration bachelor's programs are in Pennsylvania?

65 Pennsylvania programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 65 of them also report federal debt.

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

65 programs report first-year pay
65 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Business Administration, Management and Operations

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Pennsylvania business administration bachelor's program pays its graduates $46,866 in their first year, $1,470 more than the national median. Carnegie Mellon University reports the highest first-year pay ($95,891), and Franklin and Marshall College the lowest median debt ($19,500).

Median first-year pay$46,866National $45,396

Median pay after 5 years$65,063National $62,714

Median federal debt$27,000National $26,000

Debt-to-earnings58%National 55%

All 65 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	Carnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburgh · private nonprofit	$95,891	$159,088	$23,250	24%
2	UPennPhiladelphia · private nonprofit	$91,443	$116,666	$20,348	22%
3	Lehigh UniversityBethlehem · private nonprofit	$69,289	$102,043	$20,500	30%
4	Franklin and Marshall CollegeLancaster · private nonprofit	$64,664	$88,150	$19,500	30%
5	University of PittsburghPittsburgh · public	$62,675	$102,112	$21,000	34%
6	Drexel UniversityPhiladelphia · private nonprofit	$61,478	$82,997	$27,000	44%
7	Villanova UniversityVillanova · private nonprofit	$61,307	$91,997	$27,000	44%
8	Duquesne UniversityPittsburgh · private nonprofit	$58,781	$78,277	$27,000	46%
9	Elizabethtown CollegeElizabethtown · private nonprofit	$58,707	$71,041	$27,000	46%
10	Temple UniversityPhiladelphia · public	$58,307	Not reported	$20,500	35%
11	DeSales UniversityCenter Valley · private nonprofit	$57,580	$60,190	$27,000	47%
12	Muhlenberg CollegeAllentown · private nonprofit	$56,434	$80,998	$27,000	48%
13	Gwynedd Mercy UniversityGwynedd Valley · private nonprofit	$55,645	$61,163	$29,687	53%
14	Peirce CollegePhiladelphia · private nonprofit	$55,328	$58,698	$43,500	79%
15	Immaculata UniversityImmaculata · private nonprofit	$54,745	$79,721	$27,000	49%
16	York College of PennsylvaniaYork · private nonprofit	$54,054	$63,708	$26,395	49%
17	University of ScrantonScranton · private nonprofit	$53,963	$75,970	$25,375	47%
18	Eastern UniversitySaint Davids · private nonprofit	$52,763	$67,797	$30,607	58%
19	Alvernia UniversityReading · private nonprofit	$52,742	$70,877	$27,000	51%
20	Geneva CollegeBeaver Falls · private nonprofit	$52,264	$66,921	$27,000	52%
21	Gettysburg CollegeGettysburg · private nonprofit	$51,673	$102,369	$27,000	52%
22	Penn StateUniversity Park · public	$51,562	$70,131	$27,000	52%
23	Susquehanna UniversitySelinsgrove · private nonprofit	$51,350	Not reported	$27,000	53%
24	Lancaster Bible CollegeLancaster · private nonprofit	$51,101	Not reported	$24,062	47%
25	Cairn University-LanghorneLanghorne · private nonprofit	$50,263	$53,183	$26,887	53%
26	Holy Family UniversityPhiladelphia · private nonprofit	$49,870	$74,969	$27,000	54%
27	Saint Joseph's UniversityPhiladelphia · private nonprofit	$49,742	$68,674	$22,375	45%
28	Shippensburg University of PennsylvaniaShippensburg · public	$49,677	$70,082	$25,919	52%
29	Central Penn CollegeSummerdale · private for-profit	$49,497	$57,807	$44,341	90%
30	Chestnut Hill CollegePhiladelphia · private nonprofit	$48,995	$68,656	$27,000	55%
31	Carlow UniversityPittsburgh · private nonprofit	$48,121	$58,264	$27,351	57%
32	Mercyhurst UniversityErie · private nonprofit	$47,215	$61,660	$26,000	55%
33	Saint Vincent CollegeLatrobe · private nonprofit	$46,866	$61,487	$27,000	58%
34	Robert Morris UniversityMoon Township · private nonprofit	$46,589	$60,489	$27,000	58%
35	Kutztown University of PennsylvaniaKutztown · public	$45,703	$65,101	$27,000	59%
36	Millersville University of PennsylvaniaMillersville · public	$45,396	$61,262	$25,000	55%
37	Thomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphia · private nonprofit	$45,225	$62,768	$36,625	81%
38	Commonwealth University of PennsylvaniaBloomsburg · public	$45,093	$62,435	$26,356	58%
39	Marywood UniversityScranton · private nonprofit	$44,718	$59,311	$26,773	60%
40	Pennsylvania College of TechnologyWilliamsport · public	$44,538	$47,677	$27,000	61%
41	Lebanon Valley CollegeAnnville · private nonprofit	$44,334	$70,410	$27,000	61%
42	Thiel CollegeGreenville · private nonprofit	$44,281	$54,126	$27,000	61%
43	Waynesburg UniversityWaynesburg · private nonprofit	$43,209	$75,322	$27,000	62%
44	Messiah UniversityMechanicsburg · private nonprofit	$43,029	$65,508	$25,978	60%
45	Saint Francis UniversityLoretto · private nonprofit	$42,706	$52,759	$27,043	63%
46	Indiana University of PennsylvaniaIndiana · public	$42,362	$63,021	$27,000	64%
47	Keystone CollegeLa Plume · private nonprofit	$42,342	$49,072	$29,780	70%
48	Westminster College (Pennsylvania)New Wilmington · private nonprofit	$42,184	$52,410	$26,000	62%
49	Point Park UniversityPittsburgh · private nonprofit	$41,910	$60,499	$30,899	74%
50	Lycoming CollegeWilliamsport · private nonprofit	$41,884	$64,544	$27,000	64%
51	Neumann UniversityAston · private nonprofit	$41,693	$72,781	$30,600	73%
52	Moravian UniversityBethlehem · private nonprofit	$41,179	$67,745	$27,000	66%
53	Misericordia UniversityDallas · private nonprofit	$41,076	$65,207	$27,000	66%
54	Slippery Rock University of PennsylvaniaSlippery Rock · public	$40,819	$58,293	$25,000	61%
55	Wilkes UniversityWilkes-Barre · private nonprofit	$40,508	$65,279	$26,584	66%
56	King's CollegeWilkes-Barre · private nonprofit	$40,395	$61,932	$27,000	67%
57	Pennsylvania Western UniversityCalifornia · public	$40,356	$55,983	$26,782	66%
58	Albright CollegeReading · private nonprofit	$39,711	$65,025	$26,000	65%
59	East Stroudsburg University of PennsylvaniaEast Stroudsburg · public	$39,651	$61,514	$26,000	66%
60	La Salle UniversityPhiladelphia · private nonprofit	$37,382	$73,582	$23,562	63%
61	Mount Aloysius CollegeCresson · private nonprofit	$36,952	$51,485	$27,000	73%
62	Delaware Valley UniversityDoylestown · private nonprofit	$36,232	$59,715	$26,000	72%
63	Rosemont CollegeRosemont · private nonprofit	$35,463	Not reported	$31,000	87%
64	Lackawanna CollegeScranton · private nonprofit	$34,308	Not reported	$29,496	86%
65	Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)Lincoln University · public	$28,984	$51,615	$33,000	114%

Debt and first-year pay at every Pennsylvania business administration 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 65 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 business administration, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

General and Operations Managers

$103,130

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 172,010 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 285,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $49,990Top 10%: $220,530

First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

$65,270

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 56,600 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 127,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $45,000Top 10%: $97,560

First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers

$46,690

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 40,970 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 113,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $30,830Top 10%: $73,880

Project Management Specialists

$100,150

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 36,150 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 76,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $61,600Top 10%: $160,560

Common questions

Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh reports the highest median first-year pay, $95,891. Its median federal debt is $23,250.

Business Administration (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked1,105 programs by pay and debt Business Administration (Associate's) programs in Pennsylvania, ranked8 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 business administration 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