Ferris State Specialized Sales and Merchandising (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations
- Public university
- Big Rapids, MI
- About 17 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Ferris State specialized sales and merchandising graduates earn more than graduates of most specialized sales and merchandising programs nationally, $46,695 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $26,750 in federal loans, close to the national median of $26,850. One other Michigan program reports higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Michigan and national columns are the medians across all specialized sales and merchandising bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Ferris State graduates earn more than the national figure and about $5,181 more than the Michigan median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan specialized sales and merchandising program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Michigan medians.
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 31% between the first and fifth year.
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 $4,505 less in their first year than other graduates. They also borrowed more. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $284 a month, or 7.3% 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
42% of graduates (22 of 52) were working in Michigan one year after graduating. Prices in the parts of Michigan outside metro areas are about 11% below the national average, so a $46,695 salary here buys what about $52,483 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 specialized sales and merchandising, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products
$72,980Median pay in Michigan. 40,960 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 99,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers
$46,430Median pay in Michigan. 30,750 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 113,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
$66,780Median pay in Michigan. 24,220 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 82,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Buyers and Purchasing Agents
$75,900Median pay in Michigan. 16,680 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 47,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Ferris State
Specialized Sales and Merchandising ranks 18th of 37 bachelor's programs at Ferris State by first-year earnings. The top three are Industrial Technology ($78,820), Nursing ($74,851), and Construction Management ($73,292).
Other specialized sales and merchandising bachelor's programs near Big Rapids
Common questions
The median graduate earns $46,695 one year after graduating and $61,321 five years after. The median across specialized sales and merchandising bachelor's programs in Michigan is $33,121.
The median federal loan balance is $26,750, which ranks 2nd lowest of 5 specialized sales and merchandising bachelor's programs in Michigan. That works out to about $284 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 57% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 72%.
Many leave. 42% (22 of 52) were working in Michigan one year after graduating.
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 specialized sales and merchandising program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024