Which West Virginia business administration program has the lowest debt?

University of Charleston reports the lowest median federal debt, $13,666, with first-year pay of $63,623.

How much do business administration graduates earn in West Virginia?

The median across 13 West Virginia business administration bachelor's programs is $41,766 in the first year after graduating and $52,406 five years after.

How many business administration bachelor's programs are in West Virginia?

13 West Virginia programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 12 of them also report federal debt.

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

13 programs report first-year pay
12 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 West Virginia business administration bachelor's program pays its graduates $41,766 in their first year, $3,630 less than the national median. University of Charleston reports the highest first-year pay ($63,623), and University of Charleston the lowest median debt ($13,666).

Median first-year pay$41,766National $45,396

Median pay after 5 years$52,406National $62,714

Median federal debt$25,581National $26,000

Debt-to-earnings65%National 55%

All 13 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	University of CharlestonCharleston · private nonprofit	$63,623	$70,557	$13,666	21%
2	American Public University SystemCharles Town · private for-profit	$61,687	$74,073	$20,490	33%
3	WVUMorgantown · public	$49,634	$68,412	$25,242	51%
4	Salem UniversitySalem · private for-profit	$45,834	$44,199	$31,000	68%
5	West Virginia University at ParkersburgParkersburg · public	$44,419	$60,962	Not reported	Not reported
6	West Virginia StateInstitute · public	$43,709	$41,240	$27,045	62%
7	Shepherd UniversityShepherdstown · public	$41,766	$53,057	$18,500	44%
8	Wheeling UniversityWheeling · private nonprofit	$38,212	$56,888	$27,000	71%
9	Marshall UniversityHuntington · public	$35,036	$52,406	$25,415	73%
10	West Liberty UniversityWest Liberty · public	$34,713	$44,582	$27,000	78%
11	Fairmont StateFairmont · public	$33,767	$51,130	$26,000	77%
12	Concord UniversityAthens · public	$33,348	$41,895	$18,900	57%
13	Glenville StateGlenville · public	$30,916	$46,973	$25,747	83%

West Virginia University at Parkersburg reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every West Virginia business administration program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 12 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

University of Charleston$63,623
American Public University System$61,687
WVU$49,634
Salem University$45,834
West Virginia University at Parkersburg$44,419

Lowest median debt

University of Charleston$13,666
Shepherd University$18,500
Concord University$18,900
American Public University System$20,490
WVU$25,242

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

$82,500

Median pay in West Virginia. 15,300 people work in this job in West Virginia. 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%: $45,500Top 10%: $175,070

First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

$53,660

Median pay in West Virginia. 6,900 people work in this job in West Virginia. 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%: $37,830Top 10%: $80,310

First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers

$39,740

Median pay in West Virginia. 7,420 people work in this job in West Virginia. 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%: $27,870Top 10%: $66,210

Project Management Specialists

$91,780

Median pay in West Virginia. 2,520 people work in this job in West Virginia. 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%: $54,070Top 10%: $149,460

Common questions

University of Charleston in Charleston reports the highest median first-year pay, $63,623. Its median federal debt is $13,666.

Business Administration (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked1,105 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 West Virginia 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