Hope College Business Administration (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt

  • Bachelor's in Business Administration, Management and Operations
  • Private nonprofit college
  • Holland, MI
  • About 121 graduates a year

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

Hope College business administration graduates earn about what business administration graduates earn nationally, $45,590 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $26,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $26,000. Several Michigan programs report higher pay.

First-year earnings$45,59051st percentile of 1,105 programs nationally
Earnings after 5 years$72,19058% more than year one
Median federal debt$26,00010th lowest of 28 Michigan programs
Debt-to-earnings57%Michigan median 54%, national 55%

How it compares

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

Five years out, Hope College graduates earn more than the national figure and about $6,997 more than the Michigan median.

Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan business administration program

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

Hope CollegeOther 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 58% between the first and fifth year.

Hope College grads, year 1$45,590
Hope College grads, year 5$72,190
All Michigan business administration grads, year 5$65,193

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 $3,729 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$42,564Median debt $25,970
Other graduates, year 1 earnings$46,293Median debt $26,000

Paying back the loans

On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $276 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. Separately, 32 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $73,943.

Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth

69% of graduates (91 of 132) were working in Michigan one year after graduating. Prices in the Grand Rapids area are about 4% below the national average, so a $45,590 salary here buys what about $47,715 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 administration, 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

First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

$64,720

Median pay in Michigan. 30,690 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 127,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $44,830Top 10%: $98,770

First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers

$46,430

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $31,610Top 10%: $70,640

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

About Hope College

Business Administration ranks 6th of 21 bachelor's programs at Hope College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($72,146), Engineering ($67,410), and Computer and Information Science ($61,325).

Other business administration bachelor's programs near Holland

Common questions

The median graduate earns $45,590 one year after graduating and $72,190 five years after. The median across business administration bachelor's programs in Michigan is $50,528.

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 administration 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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