Montana·Business and Financial Operations Occupations·SOC 13-2061

Best Financial Examiner programs in Montana, ranked by enrollment

Enforce or ensure compliance with laws and regulations governing financial and securities institutions and financial and real estate transactions.

7 schools in Montana run programs that feed this job, graduating 123 people a year. The job pays a median of $80,970 in Montana across about 140 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledBank ExaminerExamining OfficerCredit Union ExaminerBank Secrecy Act Anti-Money Laundering Officer (BSA/AML Officer)ExaminerEscrow CloserInternal AuditorPayroll Examiner
Graduates / yr
123
in Montana
Median pay · Montana
$80,970
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
140
people employed
Schools
7
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
50%
across those schools
Median net price
$17,369
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Montana that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

1 programs in Montana that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Montana (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Montana page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 52.0301In Montana
123
100.0%
7$51,824$24,433

Top 7 schools in Montana

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 7 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1The University of Montana
Missoula, MT Public · 1 feeder programs
59Accounting$47,16448%96%
2Montana State University
Bozeman, MT Public · 1 feeder programs
27Accounting57%82%
3Carroll College
Helena, MT Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
14Accounting69%$21,44071%
4Helena College University of Montana
Helena, MT Public · 1 feeder programs
14Accounting33%
5Great Falls College Montana State University
Great Falls, MT Public · 1 feeder programs
6Accounting34%
6Rocky Mountain College
Billings, MT Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Accounting48%$17,36970%
7Blackfeet Community College
Browning, MT Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Accounting62%$6,463

All 7 schools in Montana

Every school in Montana with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Montana that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
The University of MontanaMissoulaPublic591
Montana State UniversityBozemanPublic271
Carroll CollegeHelenaPrivate not-for-profit141
Helena College University of MontanaHelenaPublic141
Great Falls College Montana State UniversityGreat FallsPublic61
Rocky Mountain CollegeBillingsPrivate not-for-profit21
Blackfeet Community CollegeBrowningPrivate not-for-profit11

What financial examiners earn in Montana

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Montana
$80,970
Mean annual
$94,100
Jobs in state
140
What the range looks like
10th pct$50,440Median$80,97090th pct$156,990
Versus the national median
-14.0%

U.S. median $94,160. Montana pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.63×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Montana

Billings, MT
$97,430median
50 jobs
Helena, MT
$80,170median
40 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+18.5%
Much faster than average
Openings per year
5,700
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
12,100
65,100 → 77,200
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Plus long-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Financial Examiners page.

How to become a Financial Examiner

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
On-the-job training
Long-term on-the-job training

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

Reading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingActive ListeningWritingSpeakingMonitoring

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Montana

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 5 majors mapped to Financial Examiners4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 43.0121Suspension and Debarment Investigation(no graduates reported)
  • 43.0405Financial Forensics and Fraud Investigation
  • 52.0301Accounting
  • 52.0303Auditing
  • 52.1601Taxation

Common questions

Answers for people weighing financial examiners programs in Montana.

What degree do you need to become a Financial Examiner?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Accounting, which awarded 123 degrees in Montana in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Financial Examiner?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Accounting and Related Services. Together they graduate about 123 people a year in Montana.

How much do financial examiners earn in Montana?+

The median is $80,970 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 14.0% below the U.S. median of $94,160. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for financial examiners growing?+

BLS projects a +18.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 5,700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Montana?+

7 institutions in Montana reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do financial examiners work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Bank Examiner, Examining Officer, Credit Union Examiner, Bank Secrecy Act Anti-Money Laundering Officer (BSA/AML Officer) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-2061.

Programs in MontanaAccounting

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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