---
title: Central Michigan University — cost, debt & earnings (College Scorecard)
location: Mount Pleasant, MI
control: Public
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (2026-06-10 release)
sourceUrl: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
---

# Central Michigan University

Mount Pleasant, MI · Public · Bachelor-granting

> Federal College Scorecard institution **medians** — not a prediction of any one student's outcome, and not a figure for any single program. Earnings/debt cover federally-aided students.

## The bottom line

| Figure | Value | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Typical earnings, 10 yrs after entry | $55,874 | recorded |
| Earnings range (25th–75th pct) | $38,496 – $78,697 | recorded |
| Typical federal debt | $23,183 | recorded |
| Debt of students who withdrew | $11,525 | recorded |
| Completion rate | 59% | recorded |
| Average annual net cost | $30,681 | recorded |
| % earning above a $28k HS-grad wage | 75% | recorded |
| Debt ÷ a year's earnings | 0.41× | derived |
| Earnings premium vs $28k HS benchmark | $27,874 | derived |

**59% of students finish** — the loans are owed whether or not you graduate, so read every figure below next to this number.

Typical **federal** loan debt is $23,183 (≈ 42% of a year's typical earnings here). Note: this counts federal loans only — not private loans, Parent PLUS, or family savings — so true borrowing is usually higher; and because dropouts borrow less, low-completion schools can show a deceptively low debt figure.

## Earnings by major (the number that decides "worth it")

> **Different measure — read on its own terms.** These are median earnings **1 year after completing the program** (early career, graduates only) — NOT the 10-years-after-entry school-wide figure above. Do not compare a program figure to the school figure; compare majors to each other. The Dept. of Education omits programs with too few graduates.

By program, early-career pay ranges from $18,160 to $108,045 across 77 program(s).

| Major | Credential | Pay (1 yr out) | Median debt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions. | Master's Degree | $108,045 | $113,288 |
| Engineering-Related Fields. | Master's Degree | $98,661 | $34,724 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Graduate/Professional Certificate | $86,483 | not reported |
| Educational Administration and Supervision. | Doctoral Degree | $82,508 | $40,464 |
| Management Information Systems and Services. | Master's Degree | $82,333 | $33,186 |
| International Business. | Master's Degree | $76,008 | not reported |
| Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies/Technicians. | Bachelor's Degree | $74,597 | $28,500 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Master's Degree | $70,324 | $33,949 |
| Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions. | Doctoral Degree | $70,154 | $106,465 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $69,477 | $28,500 |
| Mechanical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $66,978 | $27,000 |
| Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology. | Doctoral Degree | $66,793 | not reported |
| Communication Disorders Sciences and Services. | Doctoral Degree | $66,347 | $106,174 |
| Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians. | Bachelor's Degree | $64,535 | $28,000 |
| Management Information Systems and Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $62,490 | $26,500 |
| Computer Science. | Bachelor's Degree | $62,306 | $26,000 |
| Computer and Information Sciences, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $56,922 | $27,000 |
| Human Resources Management and Services. | Master's Degree | $56,827 | $35,484 |
| Foods, Nutrition, and Related Services. | Master's Degree | $56,710 | $16,080 |
| Educational Administration and Supervision. | Master's Degree | $55,288 | $27,433 |
| Medicine. | First Professional Degree | $54,526 | $254,007 |
| Accounting and Related Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $54,198 | $28,125 |
| Health and Medical Administrative Services. | Master's Degree | $53,427 | $40,035 |
| Public Administration. | Master's Degree | $53,173 | $35,575 |
| Finance and Financial Management Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $50,594 | $25,500 |
| Marketing. | Bachelor's Degree | $50,397 | $27,000 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas. | Master's Degree | $50,048 | $28,898 |
| Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods. | Bachelor's Degree | $49,995 | $20,500 |
| Communication Disorders Sciences and Services. | Master's Degree | $49,484 | $58,342 |
| Human Resources Management and Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $49,323 | $26,703 |
| Mathematics. | Bachelor's Degree | $49,258 | not reported |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Bachelor's Degree | $49,172 | $27,000 |
| Statistics. | Bachelor's Degree | $47,464 | not reported |
| Curriculum and Instruction. | Master's Degree | $46,591 | $28,703 |
| Economics. | Bachelor's Degree | $42,428 | $27,000 |
| Community Organization and Advocacy. | Bachelor's Degree | $41,663 | $26,500 |
| Student Counseling and Personnel Services. | Master's Degree | $41,390 | $50,353 |
| Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness. | Master's Degree | $41,309 | $30,750 |
| Special Education and Teaching. | Bachelor's Degree | $40,909 | $31,000 |
| Health and Medical Administrative Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $40,726 | $26,000 |
| Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations. | Bachelor's Degree | $40,200 | $27,000 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas. | Bachelor's Degree | $39,217 | $28,987 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. | Bachelor's Degree | $38,154 | $27,000 |
| Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions. | Bachelor's Degree | $37,986 | $28,125 |
| Geography and Cartography. | Bachelor's Degree | $37,181 | $26,250 |
| Hospitality Administration/Management. | Bachelor's Degree | $36,339 | $28,937 |
| Specialized Sales, Merchandising and  Marketing Operations. | Bachelor's Degree | $36,273 | $26,125 |
| Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions. | Bachelor's Degree | $36,092 | $27,000 |
| Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions. | Bachelor's Degree | $35,927 | $26,324 |
| Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication. | Bachelor's Degree | $35,420 | $27,000 |
| Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics. | Bachelor's Degree | $35,035 | $26,745 |
| Design and Applied Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $34,718 | $27,500 |
| Social Work. | Bachelor's Degree | $34,258 | $27,000 |
| Communication and Media Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $34,207 | $27,000 |
| Non-Professional Legal Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $32,836 | not reported |
| Social Sciences, Other. | Bachelor's Degree | $32,349 | $27,000 |
| Physiology, Pathology and Related Sciences. | Master's Degree | $30,706 | not reported |
| Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,054 | $27,000 |
| Sociology. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,884 | $27,000 |
| Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,465 | $27,000 |
| International Relations and National Security Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,049 | $26,750 |
| History. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,317 | $22,000 |
| Radio, Television, and Digital Communication. | Bachelor's Degree | $26,758 | $27,000 |
| Political Science and Government. | Bachelor's Degree | $26,725 | $26,000 |
| Fine and Studio Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $26,404 | $31,000 |
| Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $25,945 | not reported |
| Journalism. | Bachelor's Degree | $25,827 | $27,000 |
| Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology. | Bachelor's Degree | $25,404 | not reported |
| Biology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $24,895 | $27,000 |
| Psychology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $24,851 | $27,000 |
| Neurobiology and Neurosciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $24,783 | $25,000 |
| Music. | Bachelor's Degree | $24,731 | $28,000 |
| Natural Resources Conservation and Research. | Bachelor's Degree | $24,559 | $28,644 |
| Anthropology. | Bachelor's Degree | $22,549 | $27,982 |
| English Language and Literature, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $22,179 | $27,000 |
| Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft. | Bachelor's Degree | $21,927 | $27,000 |
| Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $18,160 | $24,877 |

## What this is — and is NOT

Institution-wide medians from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. **Not** a prediction of what you would earn or owe, **not** a figure for any single program (a CS and a fine-arts graduate of the same school diverge enormously), **not** proof the school caused the outcome (selection, not causation), and **not** a "best college" ranking. Explore Central Michigan University by field of study at the official Scorecard: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?169248

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Structured data (JSON-LD), each figure labeled by epistemic status: `/education/central-michigan-university-mi.jsonld` · all schools: `/education`