Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations at Ball State University

Ball State's entrepreneurship bachelor's degree shows a debt-to-earnings ratio that looks manageable on paper—peer programs nationally suggest first-year earnings around $45,000 against roughly $23,000 in debt. That's notably lower debt than the national median for this major ($24,125), which matters when you're launching a business or working at a startup where early salaries may be modest. The 0.52 ratio means estimated debt sits at about half of first-year income, well below the warning threshold of 1.0 that signals repayment struggles.

The challenge with entrepreneurship degrees is that salary data captures only those working traditional jobs, not students who start their own businesses (where income can vary wildly and take years to materialize). Similar programs produce median earnings of $45,000, but that figure reflects W-2 employees, not founders. If your child plans to work in corporate innovation or small business management first, these numbers provide a reasonable baseline. If they're headed straight into their own venture, traditional debt-to-earnings analysis becomes less useful—they'll need runway to build something, and $23,000 in loans means monthly payments around $260 for ten years.

The practical question: can your child afford that payment whether their business takes off quickly or they need a day job while building? At Ball State's relatively accessible price point for a four-year degree, the debt load leaves more flexibility than pricier alternatives, though the lack of school-specific data means you're making this call without knowing how Ball State's particular graduates actually fare.