Agricultural Business and Management at Northeast Iowa Community College

Similar programs in Iowa suggest first-year earnings around $40,800 for this associate's degree, but the reality check comes four years out when this program's graduates are earning $37,600—a backward slide that's unusual and worth understanding. Agricultural business can be heavily tied to family operations or seasonal work patterns that don't always show up cleanly in earnings data, but a 9% drop from year one to year four signals something's off with the typical career trajectory here.

The estimated debt of roughly $12,000 keeps the financial risk manageable, with a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.29 that falls well within reasonable territory. However, when peer programs at Hawkeye are producing graduates earning $47,000—nearly $10,000 more annually—it raises questions about whether this program is connecting students to the same opportunities. That gap compounds quickly: over a decade, it's potentially six figures in lifetime earnings difference.

For a family considering this investment, the compact debt load means your child won't be buried financially even if earnings disappoint. But the declining earnings pattern and the gap versus stronger Iowa programs suggest you should dig into what makes this program different—whether it's serving students heading back to family farms (where reported income may not tell the full story) or if graduates are struggling to find stable positions. The numbers work on paper, but they don't inspire confidence about upward mobility.