Accounting at Crowley's Ridge College

At $26,588 in estimated debt against first-year earnings around $52,373, this accounting program's debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.51 appears manageable on paper. However, both figures come from peer programs rather than Crowley's Ridge College's actual graduate outcomes—earnings reflect the Arkansas state median for bachelor's-level accounting programs, while debt estimates derive from national data for similar small private colleges. What this tells us is that Arkansas accounting graduates generally earn in the low-$50,000s their first year out, which tracks closely with the national median of $53,694. The debt projection sits slightly above both state and national medians for accounting programs, though not dramatically so.

The concern here is less about the numbers themselves and more about what we don't know. The state's top accounting programs—University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Harding, and Arkansas State—report actual first-year earnings in the upper $50,000s, suggesting there's meaningful variation in outcomes even within Arkansas. Without Crowley's Ridge College's own graduate data, parents can't assess where this program falls in that range. Given the school's 48% Pell grant rate, many students come from families where a $26,500 debt load represents real financial risk, even with solid first-year earnings. If your child is choosing between accounting programs in Arkansas, prioritize schools with transparent outcome data showing where their graduates actually land.