Accounting (Associate's) Programs in Wisconsin, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt
- 9 programs report first-year pay
- 9 also report federal debt
- Associate's in Accounting and Related Services
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
The median Wisconsin accounting associate's program pays its graduates $42,427 in their first year, $5,178 more than the national median. Waukesha County Technical College reports the highest first-year pay ($45,634), and Northwood Technical College the lowest median debt ($13,167).
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.
One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.
Debt and first-year pay at every Wisconsin accounting program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Wisconsin 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
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
$79,400Median pay in Wisconsin. 25,100 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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.
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks
$50,340Median pay in Wisconsin. 25,960 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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.
Financial Managers
$139,720Median pay in Wisconsin. 15,530 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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.
Financial and Investment Analysts
$95,570Median pay in Wisconsin. 5,430 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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.
Common questions
Waukesha County Technical College in Pewaukee reports the highest median first-year pay, $45,634. Its median federal debt is $22,000.
Northwood Technical College reports the lowest median federal debt, $13,167, with first-year pay of $35,039.
The median across 9 Wisconsin accounting associate's programs is $42,427 in the first year after graduating and $44,345 five years after.
9 Wisconsin programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 9 of them also report federal debt.
Related pages
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 Wisconsin rankings when their main campus is in another state.
- Medians are across the accounting 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