Business Administration, Management and Operations at Maryville University of Saint Louis

Maryville's business program delivers solid middle-of-the-pack performance with an unusually attractive debt profile. First-year earnings of $48,296 beat both the Missouri median ($42,524) and national average ($45,703), placing graduates at the 60th percentile among Missouri business programs. More importantly, the median debt of $21,117 is roughly $5,000 below what most business students carry—putting it in the 81st percentile for low debt nationally. That 0.44 debt-to-earnings ratio means graduates owe less than half their first-year salary, a manageable starting point for early-career professionals.

The tradeoff here is straightforward: you're not getting elite outcomes like Ranken Technical's $73,200 (though that's likely a specialized program), but you're also not taking on the debt burden typical of this degree. With a 94% admission rate and over a third of students receiving Pell grants, Maryville maintains accessibility while producing graduates who earn slightly above average with notably below-average debt.

For parents concerned about both outcomes and affordability, this program threads the needle reasonably well. Your child will likely earn more than most Missouri business graduates while carrying less debt, even if the earnings ceiling isn't exceptional. The modest sample size of 30-100 graduates suggests these figures are reasonably reliable without being definitive.