Bachelor's · earnings grade

Is a Accounting degree worth it?

Graduates earn a median $47,260 two years after finishing, more than 71% of bachelor's majors. Measured across 1,195 US programmes by the Department of Education — real graduate pay, not survey answers.

B

The verdict on the money

Yes — graduates earn more than most majors at this level.

Median earnings $47,260 2 years after finishing
Typical range $42,123–$53,629 middle half of US programmes
Over no degree +$7,740 vs $39,520 high-school median
Graduates a year 42,077 1,195 programmes

Where a Accounting degree pays best US programmes ranked on their own graduates' median earnings two years out.

#University1 yr out2 yrs out3 yrs outGraduates/yr
1 Georgetown University $77,441 $77,715 $112,359 55
2 Fordham University cost & debt at this university → $68,968 $71,351 $82,005 79
3 Lehigh University cost & debt at this university → $71,520 $70,324 $83,095 53
4 Boston College $69,899 $69,937 $82,416 77
5 Santa Clara University cost & debt at this university → $67,828 $69,740 $87,254 84
6 Villanova University cost & debt at this university → $69,420 $69,089 $77,158 95
7 University of Notre Dame cost & debt at this university → $66,502 $68,289 $80,647 70
8 Loyola Marymount University cost & debt at this university → $66,189 $67,240 $80,053 40
9 University of Southern California cost & debt at this university → $64,797 $66,839 $78,710 —
10 Washington and Lee University cost & debt at this university → not published $66,449 $79,551 40
11 University of Richmond cost & debt at this university → $64,179 $66,355 $73,053 46
12 Menlo College $62,547 $66,325 $72,015 24

What this figure does and does not tell you

It is the median of what real graduates of this exact major earned, taken from tax records two years after they completed. It is not a starting salary, not an average of job adverts, and not a projection. The median bachelor's major in this dataset reports $37,705, so Accounting sits above the middle by $9,555.

Two years is early in a career. Fields with long training pipelines — medicine, law, research — look weaker at this point than they will at ten, while trades and applied technical fields peak sooner. Read a low figure in a long-pipeline subject as "slow start", not "bad degree".

There is no debt figure here on purpose. The Department of Education publishes earnings by field of study but not borrowing, so nobody can honestly tell you the debt of a specific major. Debt is published per institution — that is where our university cost pages carry it.

Accounting at other levels

Master's — $59,954 (C)

Scholarships for Accounting students

Whatever the subject pays, the money you do not borrow is the money you keep.

Norwich Business School PhD Studentships at University of East... MSc Scholarships for International Students at University of E... University of Leeds Full and Partial Scholarships for Internat... 20 College of Social Sciences Scholarships at University of Gl... Undergraduate Scholarships in Economics and Finance at ICEF, H... School of Management Fully Funded PhD Studentships: Graduate T...
See all Accounting scholarships →

Study Accounting Programmes listed on ScholarshipsAds.

Accounting and Management Control — Stockholm University Accounting and Finance — Lund University Accounting and Taxation — Istanbul Medipol Universit... Accounting Specialist — University of Toronto Accounting — Trent University Accounting and Financial Decision Making — Northeastern University

Majors that pay more at this level Closest first — useful if you are still choosing.

Finance — $49,864 Information Technology Management — $51,035 Statistics — $53,897 Management Information Systems — $56,099 Computer and Information Sciences — $58,157 Civil Engineering — $60,523

Funding the degree Lenders that fund US and international students — compare the rate before you sign.

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We may earn a commission if you take a loan through a provider here. It never changes the earnings figures on this page — those come from the US Department of Education.

Accounting: the questions people ask

How much do Accounting graduates earn?
The median bachelor's graduate earns $47,260 two years after finishing, across 774 US programmes that publish the figure. One year out it is $47,363.
Is a Accounting degree worth it?
Yes — graduates earn more than most majors at this level. The median graduate earns $7,740 a year more than a US worker whose highest qualification is a high-school diploma.
What is the salary range for Accounting?
Half of US programmes report medians between $42,123 and $53,629. Where you study moves this figure more than most applicants expect.
How many people graduate in Accounting each year?
About 42,077 students complete a bachelor's in this field each year across 1,195 US programmes.
Does this include student debt?
No — and deliberately. The Department of Education publishes earnings by field of study but not debt, so any "debt by major" figure you see elsewhere is an estimate. Debt is published per institution, which is why our university pages carry it and this page does not.
All degree grades Highest paying majors Most popular majors University costs & payback

Classified by the Department of Education as Accounting and Related Services (CIP 5203). Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings (median earnings of graduates who received federal financial aid, measured 1–3 years after completion). Figures are per major and credential level, pooled across US programmes. Information only, not financial advice.