Economics at Lyon College

A debt-to-earnings ratio under 0.5 signals manageable financial risk, and this Economics program fits that profile. Drawing from national benchmarks, comparable bachelor's programs produce first-year earnings around $52,000 against roughly $24,000 in debt—numbers that suggest graduates can realistically handle their loan payments while building careers in banking, consulting, or data analysis.

The challenge is context. Arkansas economics programs typically show lower starting salaries than the national average, with the state median around $41,000. Even top-performing schools like University of Central Arkansas and Hendrix College report earnings in the low $40,000 range for their economics graduates. Without actual outcome data from Lyon's specific program, it's difficult to know whether graduates land opportunities that match national patterns or fall closer to Arkansas norms. That $10,000 gap matters significantly when assessing return on investment.

For Lyon's program to deliver value matching these estimates, graduates would likely need to pursue opportunities beyond Arkansas's borders or target competitive sectors where economics degrees command premium pay. The fundamental economics of the degree look workable on paper, but your child should investigate where Lyon's recent graduates actually end up working and what those entry salaries look like before committing.