Michigan State Journalism (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Journalism
- Public university
- East Lansing, MI
- About 115 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Michigan State journalism graduates earn about what journalism graduates earn nationally, $36,912 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $24,985 in federal loans, close to the national median of $24,500. It is one of the higher-paying journalism 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 journalism bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Michigan State graduates earn more than the national figure and about $8,888 more than the Michigan median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan journalism 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 57% 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 $1,709 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 $265 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. Separately, 48 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $38,447.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
61% of graduates (90 of 147) were working in Michigan one year after graduating. Prices in the Lansing area are about 5% below the national average, so a $36,912 salary here buys what about $38,858 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 journalism, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Editors
$63,090Median pay in Michigan. 1,690 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Photographers
$44,660Median pay nationwide. 970 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
Writers and Authors
$76,910Median pay nationwide. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists
$62,760Median pay in Michigan. 960 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Michigan State
Journalism ranks 48th 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 journalism bachelor's programs near East Lansing
Common questions
The median graduate earns $36,912 one year after graduating and $58,101 five years after. The median across journalism bachelor's programs in Michigan is $31,845.
The median federal loan balance is $24,985, which ranks the lowest of 5 journalism bachelor's programs in Michigan. That works out to about $265 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 68% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 67%. Compare the cost with other Michigan programs before deciding.
Most do. 61% (90 of 147) 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 journalism 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