Kalamazoo College Chemistry (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Chemistry
- Private nonprofit college
- Kalamazoo, MI
- About 20 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Kalamazoo College chemistry graduates earn about what chemistry graduates earn nationally, $39,940 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $27,000 in federal loans, more than at 80% of chemistry programs in the country. Two other Michigan programs report 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 chemistry bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Kalamazoo College graduates earn more than the national figure and about $19,592 more than the Michigan median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan chemistry 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 103% 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 $286 a month, or 8.6% 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
Prices in the Kalamazoo area are about 5% below the national average, so a $39,940 salary here buys what about $42,113 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 chemistry, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$66,030Median pay in Michigan. 25,540 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Data Scientists
$100,590Median pay in Michigan. 7,360 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 35% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Natural Sciences Managers
$129,070Median pay in Michigan. 2,220 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health
$76,080Median pay in Michigan. 3,100 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Kalamazoo College
Chemistry ranks 4th of 9 bachelor's programs at Kalamazoo College by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer and Information Science ($72,008), Business ($47,481), and Economics ($42,508).
Other chemistry bachelor's programs near Kalamazoo
Common questions
The median graduate earns $39,940 one year after graduating and $81,184 five years after. The median across chemistry bachelor's programs in Michigan is $39,736.
The median federal loan balance is $27,000, which ranks 5th lowest of 6 chemistry bachelor's programs in Michigan. That works out to about $286 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 68% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 55%. Compare the cost with other Michigan programs before deciding.
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 chemistry 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