Eastern Michigan University Business (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt

  • Bachelor's in Business/Commerce, General
  • Public university
  • Ypsilanti, MI
  • About 29 graduates a year

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

Eastern Michigan University business graduates earn about what business graduates earn nationally, $46,827 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $33,294 in federal loans, more than at 91% of business programs in the country. Several Michigan programs report higher pay.

First-year earnings$46,82750th percentile of 206 programs nationally
Earnings after 5 years$60,33529% more than year one
Median federal debt$33,2948th lowest of 8 Michigan programs
Debt-to-earnings71%Michigan median 52%, national 54%

How it compares

Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Michigan and national columns are the medians across all business bachelor's programs that report the figure.

Five years out, Eastern Michigan University graduates earn less than the national figure and about $3,783 less than the Michigan median.

Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan business program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Michigan medians.

Eastern Michigan UniversityOther Michigan programs

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

What graduates earn over time

Pay rises about 29% between the first and fifth year.

Eastern Michigan University grads, year 1$46,827
Eastern Michigan University grads, year 5$60,335
All Michigan business grads, year 5$64,118

Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.

Does family income change the outcome?

Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned $8,665 less in their first year than other graduates. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.

Pell Grant recipients, year 1 earnings$46,741
Other graduates, year 1 earnings$55,406

Paying back the loans

On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $353 a month, or 9.0% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.

The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.

Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth

79% of graduates (38 of 48) were working in Michigan one year after graduating. Prices in the Ann Arbor area are about 1% above the national average, so a $46,827 salary here buys what about $46,419 buys in a typical US city.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to business, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

General and Operations Managers

$99,530

Median pay in Michigan. 85,860 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 285,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $49,380Top 10%: $222,810

Project Management Specialists

$100,970

Median pay in Michigan. 25,330 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 76,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $61,980Top 10%: $154,260

Management Analysts

$93,640

Median pay in Michigan. 13,010 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 94,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $56,400Top 10%: $156,320

Sales Managers

$136,870

Median pay in Michigan. 17,950 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 47,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $69,790Top 10%: $230,070

About Eastern Michigan University

Business ranks 12th of 50 bachelor's programs at Eastern Michigan University by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($75,760), Construction Management ($71,798), and Medical Laboratory Science ($65,737).

Other business bachelor's programs near Ypsilanti

Common questions

The median graduate earns $46,827 one year after graduating and $60,335 five years after. The median across business bachelor's programs in Michigan is $49,986.

About this data

  • Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
  • Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
  • Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
  • Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Michigan comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
  • Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
  • School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the business program.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024

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