Finance and Financial Management Services at Carroll University

Based on comparable Wisconsin finance programs, a $26,500 debt load for first-year earnings around $56,000 creates a manageable 0.47 debt-to-earnings ratio—meaning graduates would owe less than half their annual salary. That's slightly above the national median debt for finance degrees ($23,332) but puts Carroll in line with typical Wisconsin private colleges. The estimated earnings match the state median exactly, suggesting Carroll's finance program performs similarly to most Wisconsin schools, though notably behind the state's top-tier options at UW-Madison and Marquette, where graduates earn $68,000-plus right out of the gate.

The challenge here is that we're working entirely with estimates because Carroll's graduate sample is too small for the Department of Education to publish actual outcomes. When peer programs in Wisconsin suggest roughly $56,000 in starting salary, that's a reasonable expectation for a mid-tier private college, but it's not the $60,000-plus that Wisconsin's competitive finance programs demonstrate is achievable. For a family investing in Carroll's tuition, the question becomes whether the smaller program size offers networking advantages that offset the earnings gap compared to larger state universities.

The debt picture appears workable—similar programs suggest you'd finish with less debt than half a year's earnings—but without actual graduate outcomes from Carroll itself, you're essentially betting on the school performing like its Wisconsin peers rather than knowing how its specific finance graduates fare in the job market.