Business Administration, Management and Operations at Kansas Wesleyan University

Kansas Wesleyan's business program graduates earn $35,137 their first year out—nearly $17,000 below the state median and in the bottom 10th percentile among Kansas business programs. The gap is stark: peer institutions like Baker University and the University of Kansas see their business grads earning $55,000-$59,000, nearly double what KWU graduates report. Even accounting for the small sample size (under 30 graduates, which means a few outliers could skew results), this pattern signals serious concerns about outcomes.

The debt load of $27,000 matches both state and national medians, so borrowing isn't unusually high. But when earnings are this low, even average debt becomes problematic. A 0.77 debt-to-earnings ratio means graduates owe more than three-quarters of their annual salary, making those first years financially tight. For perspective, at Baker or MidAmerica Nazarene, graduates earn enough to make that same debt burden feel manageable.

If your child is set on Kansas Wesleyan for other reasons—campus fit, scholarship package, location—this program needs scrutiny. Have direct conversations with career services about job placement specifics and why recent outcomes lag so far behind other Kansas schools. Otherwise, the earnings data suggests looking at alternative Kansas business programs where graduates see substantially stronger returns on their investment.