Which Rhode Island accounting program has the lowest debt?

Rhode Island College reports the lowest median federal debt, $18,881, with first-year pay of $48,921.

How much do accounting graduates earn in Rhode Island?

The median across 6 Rhode Island accounting bachelor's programs is $61,097 in the first year after graduating and $88,826 five years after.

How many accounting bachelor's programs are in Rhode Island?

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

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

6 programs report first-year pay
6 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 Rhode Island accounting bachelor's program pays its graduates $61,097 in their first year, $7,038 more than the national median. Providence College reports the highest first-year pay ($69,044), and Rhode Island College the lowest median debt ($18,881).

Median first-year pay$61,097National $54,059

Median pay after 5 years$88,826National $71,308

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

Debt-to-earnings41%National 45%

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	Providence CollegeProvidence · private nonprofit	$69,044	$97,691	$27,000	39%
2	Roger Williams UniversityBristol · private nonprofit	$66,780	$94,185	$26,873	40%
3	Bryant UniversitySmithfield · private nonprofit	$64,665	$92,533	$27,000	42%
4	University of Rhode IslandKingston · public	$57,529	$80,974	$23,801	41%
5	Rhode Island CollegeProvidence · public	$48,921	$66,478	$18,881	39%
6	Johnson & Wales University-ProvidenceProvidence · private nonprofit	$45,450	$75,585	$27,000	59%

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

Debt and first-year pay at every Rhode Island accounting program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 6 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

$95,820

Median pay in Rhode Island. 6,570 people work in this job in Rhode Island. 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%: $59,920Top 10%: $150,320

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

$53,280

Median pay in Rhode Island. 4,570 people work in this job in Rhode Island. 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%: $39,880Top 10%: $76,210

Financial Managers

$166,940

Median pay in Rhode Island. 2,570 people work in this job in Rhode Island. 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%: $97,180Top 10%: $304,310

Financial and Investment Analysts

$100,550

Median pay in Rhode Island. 1,790 people work in this job in Rhode Island. 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%: $63,050Top 10%: $175,270

Common questions

Providence College in Providence reports the highest median first-year pay, $69,044. Its median federal debt is $27,000.

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 Rhode Island 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