Which Pennsylvania business program has the lowest debt?

Butler County Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $7,000, with first-year pay of $32,392.

How much do business graduates earn in Pennsylvania?

The median across 9 Pennsylvania business associate's programs is $36,274 in the first year after graduating and $43,631 five years after.

How many business associate's programs are in Pennsylvania?

9 Pennsylvania programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 9 of them also report federal debt.

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

9 programs report first-year pay
9 also report federal debt
Associate's in Business/Commerce, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Pennsylvania business associate's program pays its graduates $36,274 in their first year, $1,791 more than the national median. Lehigh Carbon Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($47,276), and Butler County Community College the lowest median debt ($7,000).

Median first-year pay$36,274National $34,483

Median pay after 5 years$43,631National $46,978

Median federal debt$12,915National $11,856

Debt-to-earnings38%National 35%

All 9 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	Lehigh Carbon Community CollegeSchnecksville · public	$47,276	$43,631	$11,500	24%
2	Penn StateUniversity Park · public	$44,626	$53,721	$19,500	44%
3	Luzerne County Community CollegeNanticoke · public	$38,515	$39,187	$10,750	28%
4	Harrisburg Area Community CollegeHarrisburg · public	$36,708	$41,881	$19,976	54%
5	Montgomery County Community CollegeBlue Bell · public	$36,274	$57,366	$11,000	30%
6	Community College of PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia · public	$35,122	$47,815	$13,437	38%
7	Butler County Community CollegeButler · public	$32,392	Not reported	$7,000	22%
8	Northampton County Area Community CollegeBethlehem · public	$28,503	$53,143	$14,125	50%
9	Pennsylvania Highlands Community CollegeJohnstown · public	$23,730	$39,935	$12,393	52%

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

Debt and first-year pay at every Pennsylvania business 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 9 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lehigh Carbon Community College$47,276
Penn State$44,626
Luzerne County Community College$38,515
Harrisburg Area Community College$36,708
Montgomery County Community College$36,274

Lowest median debt

Butler County Community College$7,000
Luzerne County Community College$10,750
Montgomery County Community College$11,000
Lehigh Carbon Community College$11,500
Pennsylvania Highlands Community College$12,393

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, 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

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

Management Analysts

$93,830

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 34,420 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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%: $51,250Top 10%: $161,770

Sales Managers

$130,610

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 20,460 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 47,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $71,500Top 10%: $239,470

Common questions

Lehigh Carbon Community College in Schnecksville reports the highest median first-year pay, $47,276. Its median federal debt is $11,500.

Business (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked87 programs by pay and debt Business (Bachelor's) programs in Pennsylvania, ranked7 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 associate'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