Michigan State History (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in History
- Public university
- East Lansing, MI
- About 64 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Michigan State history graduates earn about what history graduates earn nationally, $32,434 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $27,000 in federal loans, more than at 77% of history programs in the country. Several 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 history bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Michigan State graduates earn less than the national figure but about $2,234 more than the Michigan median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan history 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 49% 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 slightly more in their first year than other graduates. They also borrowed less. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $286 a month, or 10.6% 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. Separately, 24 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $52,395.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
77% of graduates (34 of 44) were working in Michigan one year after graduating. Prices in the Lansing area are about 5% below the national average, so a $32,434 salary here buys what about $34,144 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 history, 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.
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.
Tour and Travel Guides
$35,090Median pay in Michigan. 1,160 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
Museum Technicians and Conservators
$39,000Median pay in Michigan. 340 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Michigan State
History ranks 60th of 79 bachelor's programs at Michigan State by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer and Information Science ($86,192), Computer Engineering ($83,934), and Electrical Engineering ($83,874).
Other history bachelor's programs near East Lansing
Common questions
The median graduate earns $32,434 one year after graduating and $48,421 five years after. The median across history bachelor's programs in Michigan is $32,555.
The median federal loan balance is $27,000, which ranks 5th lowest of 10 history bachelor's programs in Michigan. That works out to about $286 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 83% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 73%. Compare the cost with other Michigan programs before deciding.
Most do. 77% (34 of 44) 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 history 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