Ball State
Average debt after graduation: $25,692
70 percent of students graduate with debt
Purdue University, West Lafayette campus
Average debt after graduation: $24,056
60 percent of students graduate with debt
Indiana University, Bloomington campus
Average debt after graduation: $27,413
61 percent of students graduate with debt
Average annual salary after receiving a bachelor’s
5 years
Ball State: 41,496
Purdue University, West Lafayette campus: 49,035
Indiana University, Bloomington campus: 45,183
State average: 44,730
10 years
Ball State: 51,754
Purdue University, West Lafayette campus: 65,320
Indiana University, Bloomington campus: 62,838
State average: 58,944
* Ball State students graduate with around $400 less student debt than state average.
Ball State graduates fare worse in salary after graduation than Indiana University, Purdue University and the state average, according to a recent report.
The Indiana Commission on Higher Education’s “Return on Investment” was produced with the intention of helping Hoosiers make informed decisions about college and their choice of majors.
The state’s average salary five years after graduation is $44,730, though Ball State’s is $41,496. Students graduating from Purdue’s West Lafayette campus will earn an average of $49,035 after five years.
According to the report, 66 percent of Indiana students graduating with a bachelor’s, a master’s or a doctoral finish with debt.
The report concluded that although the average Indiana graduate will be about $26,000 in debt, a college education is still a worthy investment for the dividends it is expected to pay in the future.
According to the study, people who graduate from college will earn an average of $1 million extra in their careers compared to those who don’t graduate.
“Though there is no mistaking the value of a college degree, the data clearly show that the outcome greatly depends on individual choice: where students go to school, what they study, how long it takes them to graduate and how much debt they incur,” Teresa Lubbers, Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education, said in a press release.
Lubbers added that college students and future college students should use the data to maximize their college investment through smart planning.
Ball State also has 70 percent of graduates who leave with debt. At Indiana University’s Bloomington campus, 61 percent of graduates have debt and at Purdue, 60 percent do so — both universities are lower than the state average. However, Average Ball State debt is around $400 less than the state average, totalling around $25,600.
The report also compared top industry majors from each university and how those degrees pay off after graduation, as long as the graduates stay in Indiana.
At Ball State, bachelor’s in health, physical sciences, business and marketing were the top in terms of five years after graduation. They range between $50,278 and $53,054.
Scott Inks, a Ball State associate professor of marketing, said business degrees ranking high did not surprise him.
“If you look at the job market in general and hear reports about college students not being able to find jobs, they aren’t talking to our students,” he said. “Our problem isn’t kids getting jobs, it’s having enough kids to get the jobs.”
Inks said he often asks students if future salary is their main incentive to pursue a career in business and finds that it is a large influence, especially if a student is choosing between job offers.
“Money is important but they don’t always report that it is the most important,” he said. “Money plays a big role. It’s not always the key decision, but it plays a big role.”
On the other side of the spectrum, degrees in public administration and social services, psychology and history fared the worst five years after graduation, with salaries ranging from $33,757 to $34,949.
Professor of political science John Rouse said the earnings after graduation may be skewed by students who should not be at a university because they will not work professionally after graduation.
“There are too many people at Ball State who shouldn’t be here,” he said. “They should be working at McDonald’s.”
Rouse said those who are majoring in political science should not be motivated by a future salary, but by the potential for learning.
“People who are in college looking for a job in public administration shouldn’t [use salary for their reasoning],” he said. “They should be taking it to learn and think.”
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