General Sales, Merchandising at University of Akron Main Campus

The University of Akron's sales program starts graduates about $4,000 below Ohio's median for this degree—landing in the 40th percentile statewide—though with just a handful of graduates tracked, these numbers could shift considerably year to year. Bowling Green, the state's highest earner in this field, starts grads nearly $10,000 higher. The positive here is strong earnings growth: graduates see their income jump 32% by year four, reaching $65,559, which puts them solidly in middle-class territory.

The debt burden of $27,500 is manageable at 55% of first-year earnings, meeting the standard guideline that debt shouldn't exceed annual salary. However, you're essentially paying average debt for below-average starting outcomes compared to other Ohio options. For a program at a school with a 71% admission rate, families might reasonably expect more competitive results.

The critical caveat is the small sample size—with fewer than 30 graduates in the dataset, one or two outliers could be skewing these figures significantly. If your student is specifically drawn to Akron for location or cost reasons, the program won't saddle them with crushing debt. But if they're comparing Ohio schools, it's worth understanding why they'd start behind peers at institutions like Bowling Green, especially when the debt load is essentially identical.