Applied Mathematics at Ouachita Baptist University

A debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.42 suggests manageable financial pressure for Ouachita Baptist's Applied Mathematics bachelor's—at least based on what similar programs nationally produce. With estimated debt around $25,000 and first-year earnings near $61,000, graduates from comparable programs typically face a reasonable path to repayment. That's about five months of gross pay to cover the debt, which falls comfortably below the concerning 1.0 threshold where annual earnings barely exceed what you owe.

The challenge here is context. Ouachita is the only school in Arkansas with a reported Applied Mathematics program, so there's no in-state comparison point. The earnings estimate comes from the national median across 44 programs, which span everything from small private colleges to major research universities. Applied math credentials can lead to vastly different career paths—data science, actuarial work, engineering support, or graduate school—and those trajectories carry wildly different starting salaries. The $61,000 figure represents a middle ground that may or may not reflect what Ouachita's specific curriculum and alumni network deliver.

For anxious parents, this comes down to trust in the school's placement outcomes despite limited hard data. If your student is genuinely interested in quantitative fields and Ouachita offers the academic rigor and career support to match, the estimated financial profile looks workable. But verify what recent graduates are actually doing—job placements, graduate school acceptances, employer connections—since the numbers here reflect peer programs, not this particular pathway.