College Scorecard · cost, debt & earnings

Western Michigan University

Kalamazoo, MI · Public · Bachelor-granting · 12,568 undergrads · 85% admitted

Do students finish?

58% complete

A large share of students do not finish; the cost is the same whether or not you graduate.

What does it cost?

$29,237/yr net

Average annual price after grants & scholarships. ~$116,948 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.

$53,562 median, 10 yrs after entry

25th pct $34,853 median $53,562 75th pct $76,786

77% 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.

53 Bachelor's programs · $18,708 to $70,069 (1 yr out)

MajorPay · 1yr outMedian debt

Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering.Bachelor's $70,069 $27,000

Industrial Engineering.Bachelor's $69,454 —

Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies/Technicians.Bachelor's $68,647 $29,875

Computer Engineering.Bachelor's $67,831 —

Mechanical Engineering.Bachelor's $67,557 $29,000

Computer Science.Bachelor's $66,118 $27,000

Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians.Bachelor's $63,559 $29,000

Civil Engineering.Bachelor's $63,325 $24,750

Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.Bachelor's $62,429 $25,500

Chemical Engineering.Bachelor's $59,565 $27,758

Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering.Bachelor's $59,143 $27,000

Engineering-Related Fields.Bachelor's $57,803 $27,000

Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians.Bachelor's $51,618 $26,000

Business Administration, Management and Operations.Bachelor's $49,945 $25,000

Computer and Information Sciences, General.Bachelor's $49,118 $29,646

Marketing.Bachelor's $46,518 $24,250

Finance and Financial Management Services.Bachelor's $44,347 $25,000

Accounting and Related Services.Bachelor's $43,500 $25,000

Human Resources Management and Services.Bachelor's $43,409 $26,000

Air Transportation.Bachelor's $43,255 $25,500

Special Education and Teaching.Bachelor's $40,756 $31,000

Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas.Bachelor's $39,409 $27,506

Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods.Bachelor's $38,022 $30,750

Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences.Bachelor's $36,192 —

Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication.Bachelor's $35,894 $25,146

Geography and Cartography.Bachelor's $35,184 $22,250

Design and Applied Arts.Bachelor's $34,068 $27,000

Social Work.Bachelor's $33,334 $26,000

Criminal Justice and Corrections.Bachelor's $33,123 $25,033

Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other.Bachelor's $32,776 $25,000

International/Globalization Studies.Bachelor's $32,250 $26,687

Health and Medical Administrative Services.Bachelor's $32,204 $26,060

Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services.Bachelor's $32,073 $25,000

Apparel and Textiles.Bachelor's $31,775 —

Communication and Media Studies.Bachelor's $31,707 $23,362

Political Science and Government.Bachelor's $30,882 $24,250

Biology, General.Bachelor's $30,671 $25,060

Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness.Bachelor's $29,743 $23,375

Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology.Bachelor's $29,516 $27,000

Psychology, General.Bachelor's $28,081 $25,000

Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations.Bachelor's $27,959 $24,885

Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics.Bachelor's $27,099 $27,000

Sociology.Bachelor's $26,690 $24,449

History.Bachelor's $25,235 $29,000

Dance.Bachelor's $24,911 $27,000

Communication Disorders Sciences and Services.Bachelor's $24,823 $26,899

Film/Video and Photographic Arts.Bachelor's $24,760 $27,000

English Language and Literature, General.Bachelor's $24,695 $27,000

Fine and Studio Arts.Bachelor's $22,541 $27,000

Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft.Bachelor's $20,508 $26,731

Music.Bachelor's $20,324 $27,000

Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services.Bachelor's $19,207 $23,442

Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies.Bachelor's $18,708 $24,007

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

$20,115

≈ 38% 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. And because students who drop out borrow less, a school where many students don't finish can show a deceptively low debt figure — read it next to the completion rate above.

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 (74 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