Business Administration, Management and Operations at University of Minnesota-Morris

The $43,230 first-year salary sits below both the Minnesota median ($52,469) and the national benchmark ($45,703) for business administration bachelor's degrees. While debt figures here are estimated from similar Minnesota programs rather than this school's actual outcomes, the projected $24,250 burden translates to a manageable 0.56 debt-to-earnings ratio—meaning graduates would owe roughly half their first-year salary. That's reasonable leverage for a business degree, but the earnings themselves deserve scrutiny.

Morris graduates appear to start significantly behind their Minnesota peers, landing in just the 25th percentile statewide. The gap is substantial: University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus reports first-year earnings of nearly $66,000, while even Crookston—another rural UMN campus—sees graduates earning $58,805. The 36% earnings growth to year four ($58,889) helps close this gap somewhat, but it takes several years to reach what many comparable programs deliver immediately.

For families considering this program, the trade-off is clear: lower upfront earnings in exchange for what similar programs suggest will be modest debt. If your student values the small liberal arts environment of Morris and plans to stay in Minnesota where the UMN name carries weight, the eventual earnings trajectory may justify the slower start. But if maximizing early earning power matters—particularly for a career-focused business degree—stronger-performing Minnesota alternatives exist at similar estimated debt levels.