Grand Valley State Business (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Business/Commerce, General
- Public university
- Allendale, MI
- About 78 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Grand Valley State business graduates earn about what business graduates earn nationally, $45,285 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $21,025 in federal loans, less than at 85% of business programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying business degrees in Michigan.
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, Grand Valley State graduates earn less than the national figure and about $3,073 less than the Michigan median. Several Michigan programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
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.
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 35% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $223 a month, or 5.9% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
96% of graduates (25 of 26) were working in Michigan one year after graduating. Prices in the Grand Rapids area are about 4% below the national average, so a $45,285 salary here buys what about $47,396 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
$99,530Median 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.
Project Management Specialists
$100,970Median 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.
Management Analysts
$93,640Median 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.
Sales Managers
$136,870Median 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.
About Grand Valley State
Business ranks 24th of 62 bachelor's programs at Grand Valley State by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Engineering ($80,746), Electrical Engineering ($80,732), and Manufacturing Engineering ($76,754).
Other business bachelor's programs near Allendale
Common questions
The median graduate earns $45,285 one year after graduating and $61,045 five years after. The median across business bachelor's programs in Michigan is $49,986.
The median federal loan balance is $21,025, which ranks 3rd lowest of 8 business bachelor's programs in Michigan. That works out to about $223 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 46% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 54%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Michigan programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 96% (25 of 26) 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 business 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