Business/Commerce at Bismarck State College

With first-year earnings of $36,062 and estimated debt around $11,000, Bismarck State's business program appears to deliver reasonable value on paper. Based on national patterns for associate programs at similar institutions, graduates would face monthly loan payments of roughly $125—manageable at about 4% of gross income. The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.31 is well below typical warning thresholds, and earnings growth to $42,344 by year four suggests steady career progression in North Dakota's economy.

The challenge here is uncertainty. Because this program's actual debt data is suppressed due to small cohort sizes, we're estimating based on what similar community college business programs typically produce nationally. While the earnings figures are real for this specific program, they land right at North Dakota's median for business associate degrees, meaning Bismarck State performs neither better nor worse than its in-state competitor. Nationally, it's essentially average—48th percentile among 559 similar programs.

For families seeking an affordable entry into business careers in North Dakota, this program likely works fine: low debt burden, steady local earnings, and reasonable growth trajectory. But the lack of published debt data means you're making a decision with incomplete information about what graduates actually owe. If your student can secure scholarships or minimize borrowing through work, that removes most of the uncertainty.