Education Atlas

College Scorecard · cost, debt & earnings

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI · Public · Bachelor-granting · 40,922 undergrads · 85% admitted

Do students finish?
81% complete

Most students who start here finish.

What does it cost?
$32,198/yr net

Average annual price after grants & scholarships. ~$128,792 over four years if you finish on time.

What former students go on to earn

The middle 50% of students who received federal aid, measured 10 years after they entered (an earlier entering class — not a guarantee, and not limited to those who graduated). Earnings vary enormously by field of study.

$67,253 median, 10 yrs after entry
25th pct $46,010 median $67,253 75th pct $96,911

82% earn more than a typical high-school graduate (the dashed line above, $28,000 — a fixed, somewhat dated federal benchmark) ten years on.

Your major matters more than your school

The school-wide figure above blends every major together — but pay varies enormously by program. Pick a degree level (and search your major) to compare like-for-like.

Read these on their own terms. Program pay is measured 1 year after completing the program (early career, graduates only) — not the same as the school-wide number above, which is 10 years after a student first enrolled. Don't compare a program figure to the school figure; use the programs to compare majors to each other.

79 Bachelor's programs · $20,423 to $76,292 (1 yr out)

MajorPay · 1yr outMedian debt
Computer and Information Sciences, General.Bachelor's $76,292 $22,500
Computer Engineering.Bachelor's $75,462 $23,000
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering.Bachelor's $71,673 $22,500
Mechanical Engineering.Bachelor's $71,321 $23,250
Chemical Engineering.Bachelor's $70,092 $25,314
Materials Engineering.Bachelor's $68,609 $24,385
Engineering-Related Fields.Bachelor's $66,715 $23,375
Engineering, General.Bachelor's $66,191 $22,250
Civil Engineering.Bachelor's $66,002 $26,500
Construction Engineering Technology/Technician.Bachelor's $65,740 $25,250
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.Bachelor's $62,282 $25,000
Finance and Financial Management Services.Bachelor's $61,907 $22,500
Business Administration, Management and Operations.Bachelor's $61,667 $21,500
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods.Bachelor's $60,749 $22,872
Agricultural Engineering.Bachelor's $59,306 $28,000
Accounting and Related Services.Bachelor's $58,100 $22,500
Marketing.Bachelor's $58,064 $22,250
Engineering, Other.Bachelor's $57,800 $21,848
Statistics.Bachelor's $52,504 $23,625
Food Science and Technology.Bachelor's $49,975 $25,000
Human Resources Management and Services.Bachelor's $49,074 $23,250
Mathematics.Bachelor's $48,982 $19,250
Economics.Bachelor's $48,199 $22,231
Agricultural Business and Management.Bachelor's $48,126 $21,500
Hospitality Administration/Management.Bachelor's $45,050 $21,815
Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management.Bachelor's $44,992 $22,375
International Relations and National Security Studies.Bachelor's $42,937 $23,750
Chemistry.Bachelor's $42,255 $26,750
Soil Sciences.Bachelor's $41,741 $19,500
Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy.Bachelor's $41,632 $20,500
Education, General.Bachelor's $40,045 $26,000
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas.Bachelor's $39,988 $25,375
Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences.Bachelor's $39,719 $28,869
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication.Bachelor's $38,973 $22,605
Microbiological Sciences and Immunology.Bachelor's $38,059 $26,625
Criminal Justice and Corrections.Bachelor's $37,461 $25,000
Design and Applied Arts.Bachelor's $37,306 $26,997
Communication and Media Studies.Bachelor's $37,107 $25,250
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology.Bachelor's $36,979 $22,125
Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies.Bachelor's $36,915 $24,360
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions.Bachelor's $36,358 $26,000
English Language and Literature, General.Bachelor's $35,931 $24,966
Plant Sciences.Bachelor's $35,527 $22,550
Music.Bachelor's $35,201 $26,750
Physics.Bachelor's $34,929 $27,000
Animal Sciences.Bachelor's $34,232 $25,023
Public Policy Analysis.Bachelor's $34,123 $25,822
Forestry.Bachelor's $34,078 $29,362
Social Sciences, General.Bachelor's $33,674 $28,090
Genetics.Bachelor's $33,587 $25,000
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics.Bachelor's $32,826 $27,000
Journalism.Bachelor's $32,480 $23,547
Middle/Near Eastern and Semitic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics.Bachelor's $32,437 —
Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services.Bachelor's $32,168 $28,195
Political Science and Government.Bachelor's $32,000 $21,500
Sociology.Bachelor's $31,092 $25,845
East Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics.Bachelor's $30,642 $21,290
International/Globalization Studies.Bachelor's $30,431 $26,000
Social Work.Bachelor's $29,946 $24,432
Wildlife and Wildlands Science and Management.Bachelor's $28,901 $28,332
History.Bachelor's $28,671 $25,025
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness.Bachelor's $28,154 $24,580
Geography and Cartography.Bachelor's $27,724 —
Psychology, General.Bachelor's $27,682 $23,630
Natural Resources Conservation and Research.Bachelor's $27,553 $23,080
Fine and Studio Arts.Bachelor's $27,513 $27,875
Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Facilities Management.Bachelor's $26,719 $23,250
Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology.Bachelor's $26,376 $25,000
Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services.Bachelor's $25,760 $24,915
Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services.Bachelor's $24,768 $22,375
Zoology/Animal Biology.Bachelor's $24,435 $25,000
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft.Bachelor's $24,128 $22,185
Biology, General.Bachelor's $23,885 $25,175
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other.Bachelor's $22,995 $26,130
Physiology, Pathology and Related Sciences.Bachelor's $21,826 $22,759
Neurobiology and Neurosciences.Bachelor's $21,663 $24,232
Nutrition Sciences.Bachelor's $21,557 $23,170
Anthropology.Bachelor's $21,255 $27,750
Non-Professional Legal Studies.Bachelor's $20,423 $24,753

The Dept. of Education omits programs with too few graduates (to protect privacy), so not every major appears. Pay is a median for federally-aided graduates. Full program detail on the official Scorecard.

Typical federal loan debt
$19,500
≈ 29% of one year's typical earnings here

This counts federal student loans only — not private loans, Parent PLUS loans, or family savings, so the true cost of borrowing is usually higher.

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is an institution-wide median from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. It is not a prediction of what you would earn or owe — a computer-science and a fine-arts graduate of the same school can earn wildly different amounts, and your field of study matters more than your school. It is not a figure for any one program, not proof the school caused the outcome (selective schools admit students who would earn more anyway), and not a "best college" ranking. Earnings and debt cover federally-aided students.

→ The number that actually answers "worth it" is earnings by major — see the by-major breakdown above (122 programs at this school).

Also available: structured data (JSON-LD) · plain text · JSON. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (2026-06-10 release). · school website