Michigan Higher Education Outcome Report

• Institutions

  80

  336,713 students enrolled

• Graduates / Year

  ~44,888

  Estimated annual completers

• Median Earnings

  44th pct

  $47,907

  28th of 50 states

• Mobility Score

  17th pct

  1.2%

  38th of 46 states

• Talent Retention

  40th pct

  72%

  First-year retention rate

• Value Ratio

  84th pct

  3.8x

  Earnings per net-price dollar

1. 1

   Upward mobility sits mid-pack: the state's institutions move bottom-quintile students into the top quintile at a 1.2% rate, in the 17th percentile nationally.

2. 2

   Degree production is led by Business and Healthcare, which together account for 34% of graduates. That diversified mix sets what the state's labor pipeline can supply.

3. 3

   Engineering is the standout sector: graduates earn $64,027, +24.1% versus the national median. That premium points to a real wage advantage rather than sheer volume.

4. 4

   Humanities shows oversupply pressure: graduate earnings run 19.5% below the national median, suggesting the field produces more graduates than the local market rewards.

5. 5

   On value, Michigan returns 3.8x earnings per dollar of net price, among the strongest cost-to-outcome efficiency in the country.

6. 6

   The state's strongest mobility engine is Kettering University, which moves bottom-quintile students into the top quintile at a 3.1% rate, the highest in Michigan.

• Earnings vs National

  ▼ -10.5%

  Median graduate earnings in Michigan are below the national average by 10%.

• Cost vs National

  ▲ -9.3%

  Net price in Michigan is lower than the national average by 9%.

• Mobility Rate

  ▼ -0.56pp

  Upward mobility rate is 0.6 percentage points below the national average.

• Completion Rate

  ▼ -2.2pp

  Michigan's graduation rate is 2.2 percentage points below the national average.

• Best Value

  ▲ 52.7x

  Top value school: Henry Ford College ($34,795 earnings vs $660 net price).

• Low-Income Access

  ▼ 8.7%

  9% of students come from bottom-quintile households, a measure of how open the state's colleges are to low-income students.

Business (18% of graduates) and Healthcare (16% of graduates) dominate Michigan's higher education output. Graduates in the top field earn a weighted average of $50,789.

• Business

  18%

  $50,789 avg

• Healthcare

  16%

  $47,331 avg

• Humanities

  16%

  $39,882 avg

• Social Sciences

  9%

  $55,647 avg

• Technology

  8%

  $55,225 avg

Michigan's highest-ROI degree cluster is Trades (Precision Production), where graduates average $38,447 against a net cost of $6,176, a 6.2x return. That's -25.5% vs the national median.

• Precision Production

  6.2x
  $38,447 earnings · $6,176 net -25.5% vs natl

• Culinary & Personal Services

  5.6x
  $38,884 earnings · $6,886 net -24.6% vs natl

• Construction Trades

  5.6x
  $40,318 earnings · $7,163 net -21.8% vs natl

• Mechanic & Repair Tech

  5.6x
  $39,063 earnings · $7,007 net -24.3% vs natl

• Transportation

  4.3x
  $45,434 earnings · $10,634 net -11.9% vs natl

• Criminal Justice

  4.2x
  $45,209 earnings · $10,706 net -12.3% vs natl

Three lenses on Michigan's talent pipeline: which fields produce the most graduates, which command the highest earnings, and where high-pay demand outruns local supply.

Michigan's colleges post an average mobility rate of 1.2%, which puts the state in the 17th percentile nationally. 9% of students arrive from bottom-quintile households. Cross-class social connectedness averages 1.34, a proxy for the networks that help graduates convert a degree into mobility.

Michigan's Engineering programs produce graduates earning $64,027, +24.1% relative to the national median. Humanities graduates, however, earn 19.5% below the national median, a possible sign the state produces more of these degrees than its labor market absorbs.

• Business

  18% of enrollment
  $48,617 -5.7% vs natl

  66 schools

• Healthcare

  16% of enrollment
  $46,145 -10.5% vs natl

  52 schools

• Humanities

  16% of enrollment
  $41,519 -19.5% vs natl

  40 schools

• Social Sciences

  9% of enrollment
  $55,950 +8.5% vs natl

  23 schools

• Technology

  8% of enrollment
  $54,350 +5.4% vs natl

  22 schools

• Engineering

  7% of enrollment
  $64,027 +24.1% vs natl

  15 schools

Michigan's higher education system includes 5 research-oriented, 8 specialized, 5 access-oriented, 62 regional institutions. Each group plays a different role in the state's outcomes.

• 🔬

  5

  Research Universities

• 🏛️

  62

  Regional Universities

• 🚀

  5

  Access-Oriented Institutions

• 🎯

  8

  Specialized Institutions

59% of Michigan's colleges charge under $15K net. Graduates of those schools average $43,421 at 10 years.

• NET PRICE UNDER $15K

  42

  59% of schools

  Avg earnings: $43,421

• NET PRICE $15K–$25K

  20

  28% of schools

  Avg earnings: $53,379

• NET PRICE $25K–$40K

  9

  13% of schools

  Avg earnings: $63,220

Schools ranked by median graduate earnings 10 years after enrolling.

1. 01 Kettering University Flint, MI $94,823
2. 02 Chamberlain University-Michigan Troy, MI $92,405
3. 03 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI $83,648
4. 04 Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI $78,198
5. 05 Walsh College Troy, MI $72,081
6. 06 University of Detroit Mercy Detroit, MI $71,030
7. 07 Lawrence Technological University Southfield, MI $69,151
8. 08 Michigan State University East Lansing, MI $67,253

What graduates in Michigan earn relative to what they pay for college.

Every figure on this page is derived from public federal data and read within its regional and economic context. Information Gain Policy →