Bachelor's · Storm Lake, Iowa

Is Marketing at Buena Vista University worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back in time: graduates typically recover the cost in about 5.2 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $61,541; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $59,431; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $23,102; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $80k (likely $80k – $92k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $19k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in IA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 5.2 years (likely 3.5–8.8); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$72k (likely −$152k – $18k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $97k (likely −$53k – $271k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 58%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26