Business/Commerce at Bethany College

With estimated first-year earnings of $48,000 against $27,000 in debt, Bethany's business program appears to track closely with what similar Kansas programs produce—though the lack of actual reported data here means you're essentially betting on the state's broader pattern holding true for this specific school. The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.56 suggests manageable repayment under standard federal loan terms, and both figures align almost exactly with state and national medians for business bachelor's degrees.

The real question is opportunity cost within Kansas itself. The state's larger universities—Kansas State and KU—report actual outcomes in the $49,000-$54,000 range, while the one smaller private school with published data (Bethel) shows considerably lower earnings at $35,000. Bethany's 43% Pell rate indicates a student body with significant financial need, and at a small private college where outcomes data is suppressed, you're making assumptions without much program-specific evidence to validate them.

If your child is committed to staying in Kansas and values Bethany's small-college environment, the estimated numbers suggest the financial fundamentals could work out reasonably well—assuming this program performs like the state average. But you'd be choosing a school without knowing whether its outcomes actually match those benchmarks, when larger state universities nearby have track records you can verify.