Western Michigan University Outcomes

Western Michigan University has 85 programs with reported graduate earnings. The highest is Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (master's), where graduates earn a median $123,892 four years after finishing, against $126,483 for the same field nationally.

Verified data· U.S. College Scorecard · 2025

58.6%

Graduation rate

First-time, full-time students finishing within 150% of normal time

81.1%

First-year retention

Students who return for a second year

Median earnings

$57,828

Former students who received federal aid

Quick facts

Admit rate: 84.6%
Avg. net price: $13,902
Graduation: 58.6%
Students: 12,568

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Western Michigan University graduate earnings by major

Source: U.S. College Scorecard, field of study, 2025

Median earnings of graduates who received federal aid, one and four years after finishing, and the median federal loan debt they borrowed at Western Michigan University. The field median is the middle value for the same field and credential across every college that reports it. 159 more programs have too few graduates for earnings to be published.

Largest program: Air Transportation; 266 graduates · $89,564 median earnings
Above the national median: 27 of 85 programs; Graduate earnings compared with the same field and credential at other colleges
Lowest debt for the pay: Paper Science and Engineering; Median debt is 15% of a year's earnings

Highest-earning programs

Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (master's): $123,892; Field median $126,483
Paper Science and Engineering (bachelor's): $102,825; Field median $101,225
Business Administration, Management and Operations (master's): $96,045; Field median $95,127
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering (bachelor's): $95,469; Field median $98,953
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering (bachelor's): $94,177; Field median $96,300
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology (doctoral): $94,135; Field median $100,378
Industrial Engineering (bachelor's): $92,306; Field median $96,504
Chemical Engineering (bachelor's): $91,777; Field median $97,202

Median earnings four years after finishing, or one year where four is not reported.

Bachelor's programs

Bachelor's programs: graduates, median earnings 1 and 4 years after finishing, national median earnings for the field, and median federal debt
Program	Graduates	Earnings 1 yr	Earnings 4 yr	Field median	Median debt
Paper Science and Engineering	16	$87,930	$102,825	$101,2252% above	$15,000
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering	33	$75,363	$95,469	$98,9534% below	$29,750
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering	58	$73,384	$94,177	$96,3002% below	$27,000
Industrial Engineering	17	$79,387	$92,306	$96,5044% below	N/A
Chemical Engineering	41	$76,468	$91,777	$97,2026% below	$24,199
Computer Science	42	$67,050	$90,876	$99,1778% below	$26,000
Air Transportation	266	$45,056	$89,564	$83,4497% above	$25,375
Engineering-Related Fields	10	N/A	$88,746	$89,5141% below	N/A
Mechanical Engineering	49	$77,862	$87,477	$91,2854% below	$28,000
Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies/Technicians	12	$66,254	$84,622	$77,5179% above	$31,000
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	97	$78,518	$83,449	$86,0203% below	$27,000
Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians	17	$74,836	$82,740	$81,5621% above	$17,500
Civil Engineering	26	$72,978	$78,368	$85,1158% below	$27,000
Computer Engineering	19	$77,069	N/A	$80,9875% below	N/A
Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians	0	N/A	$76,241	$80,2815% below	N/A
Business Administration, Management and Operations	202	$65,519	$75,143	$64,59016% above	$25,197
Computer and Information Sciences, General	14	$52,510	$74,566	$85,00012% below	$27,414
Finance and Financial Management Services	216	$55,156	$72,353	$77,3126% below	$21,500
Human Resources Management and Services	38	$52,356	$71,870	$67,0257% above	$25,672
Marketing	204	$56,597	$71,371	$66,5427% above	$23,875
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions	33	$38,481	$68,351	$54,82225% above	$27,000
Accounting and Related Services	171	$58,100	$66,666	$73,0549% below	$23,000
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods	0	$66,570	N/A	$68,5313% below	N/A
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology	24	$34,146	$64,679	$52,56923% above	$19,857
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication	34	$46,467	$64,127	$62,0273% above	$25,000
Biology, General	104	$39,855	$59,249	$57,5583% above	$25,000
Design and Applied Arts	57	$39,817	$58,634	$52,72711% above	$27,000
Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences	14	N/A	$58,164	$60,3794% below	N/A
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	32	N/A	$58,023	$58,4911% below	$25,889
Criminal Justice and Corrections	60	$39,223	$57,012	$54,4695% above	$26,000
Apparel and Textiles	0	N/A	$56,487	$58,5163% below	N/A
Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services	7	N/A	$56,449	$55,8931% above	$24,750
Political Science and Government	35	$42,577	$54,840	$61,61311% below	$24,831
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other	153	$47,625	$54,597	$54,5300% above	$28,779
Health and Medical Administrative Services	3	$36,745	$54,265	$58,5187% below	N/A
Sociology	10	$39,938	$51,835	$52,1051% below	N/A
Communication and Media Studies	49	$39,027	$51,446	$53,8254% below	$24,232
Special Education and Teaching	16	$49,593	$50,665	$51,2581% below	$31,000
Psychology, General	141	$35,715	$50,655	$50,0661% above	$21,563
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness	103	$34,132	$50,134	$53,0245% below	$23,174
Geography and Cartography	6	$37,587	$49,921	$57,58613% below	N/A
Social Work	65	$35,351	$49,850	$51,8594% below	$25,000
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	116	$47,092	$49,340	$50,8273% below	$27,000
Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services	36	$38,947	$49,286	$47,2694% above	$27,291
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	18	N/A	$48,065	$67,67629% below	N/A
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	71	$45,368	$47,898	$47,7300% above	$30,750
History	13	N/A	$46,909	$50,3877% below	$22,500
Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations	20	$41,518	$46,543	$56,70318% below	$24,725
Film/Video and Photographic Arts	24	$32,157	$45,391	$45,2260% above	$22,125
Dance	27	$24,646	$45,108	$40,84510% above	$27,000
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft	38	$33,073	$44,694	$40,05312% above	$24,228
Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General	30	$44,452	N/A	$40,17811% above	$30,808
English Language and Literature, General	21	N/A	$43,628	$48,77311% below	$22,750
Anthropology	16	N/A	$41,490	$45,8339% below	N/A
Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations	14	$40,923	N/A	$50,32419% below	N/A
Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies	29	$31,068	$40,792	$47,08813% below	$27,000
International/Globalization Studies	14	$38,196	$40,663	$56,51728% below	N/A
Natural Resources Conservation and Research	19	$38,227	N/A	$40,7746% below	$21,811
Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology	5	$38,145	N/A	$34,65610% above	N/A
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	28	$42,840	$37,013	$56,04734% below	$25,094
Fine and Studio Arts	33	$31,698	$36,615	$41,55012% below	$27,066
Music	42	$31,341	$36,254	$43,38716% below	$27,000

Master's programs

Master's programs: graduates, median earnings 1 and 4 years after finishing, national median earnings for the field, and median federal debt
Program	Graduates	Earnings 1 yr	Earnings 4 yr	Field median	Median debt
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	38	$110,405	$123,892	$126,4832% below	$122,816
Business Administration, Management and Operations	56	$100,062	$96,045	$95,1271% above	N/A
Accounting and Related Services	29	$71,116	$82,190	$93,22812% below	N/A
Human Resources Management and Services	13	N/A	$78,328	$85,1928% below	N/A
Public Administration	14	$64,022	$76,335	$77,1751% below	N/A
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions	3	$63,797	$73,089	$71,2623% above	N/A
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology	42	$64,926	$72,299	$65,74410% above	$43,426
Educational Administration and Supervision	38	$62,151	$68,966	$69,9441% below	N/A
Special Education and Teaching	49	$61,149	$67,367	$63,0587% above	$31,974
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	24	$61,798	$64,565	$65,7862% below	$44,390
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	34	$59,662	$62,562	$62,4500% above	$40,497
Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions	137	$54,652	$61,613	$60,2342% above	$48,179
Social Work	10	$56,463	$60,283	$62,5974% below	$41,000
Public Health	6	$59,783	N/A	$63,9447% below	N/A
Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language	27	$59,503	N/A	$62,4735% below	N/A
Biology, General	17	$58,107	N/A	$47,79122% above	N/A
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	38	$49,834	$56,135	$58,8455% below	$20,500
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness	10	$48,123	$54,611	$60,55310% below	N/A
Student Counseling and Personnel Services	14	$53,410	$54,002	$58,9988% below	N/A
Music	24	$25,465	$33,453	$47,35729% below	N/A

Doctoral programs

Doctoral programs: graduates, median earnings 1 and 4 years after finishing, national median earnings for the field, and median federal debt
Program	Graduates	Earnings 1 yr	Earnings 4 yr	Field median	Median debt
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology	21	$75,566	$94,135	$100,3786% below	$64,717
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions	Not available	$77,941	N/A	$76,6262% above	$84,381

Graduate certificate programs

Graduate certificate programs: graduates, median earnings 1 and 4 years after finishing, national median earnings for the field, and median federal debt
Program	Graduates	Earnings 1 yr	Earnings 4 yr	Field median	Median debt
Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions	7	N/A	$61,943	$61,8620% above	N/A

Career paths from this college

Careers linked to the programs Western Michigan University reports, highest national median pay first. Pay and outlook are BLS figures for the whole occupation, not for this college's graduates.

Explore all 504 careers

Bright outlook
Healthcare practitioners
Nurse Anesthetists
Median pay
$236,590
Outlook
Much faster than average
Master's degree
Via Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
- Critical Thinking
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Learning
Bright outlook
Transportation
Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers
Median pay
$232,140
Outlook
Much faster than average
Bachelor's degree
Via Air Transportation
- Operation and Control
- Operations Monitoring
- Active Listening
Management
Chief Executives
Median pay
$213,990
Outlook
As fast as average
Bachelor's degree
Via Public Administration, Business/Commerce, General and 4 more
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Complex Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
Management
Chief Sustainability Officers
Median pay
$213,990
Outlook
As fast as average
Bachelor's degree
Via Public Administration, Business/Commerce, General and 4 more
- Critical Thinking
- Writing
- Active Listening
Bright outlook
Science
Industrial-Organizational Psychologists
Median pay
$193,950
Outlook
Faster than average
Master's degree
Via Psychology, General, Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
Bright outlook
Management
Computer and Information Systems Managers
Median pay
$175,140
Outlook
Much faster than average
Bachelor's degree
Via Computer and Information Sciences, General, Computer Science and 6 more
- Critical Thinking
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension