UW-Green Bay Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Design and Applied Arts
- Public university
- Green Bay, WI
- About 17 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
UW-Green Bay design and applied arts graduates earn about what design and applied arts graduates earn nationally, $32,991 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $18,186 in federal loans, less than at 93% of design and applied arts programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying design and applied arts degrees in Wisconsin.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Wisconsin and national columns are the medians across all design and applied arts bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, UW-Green Bay graduates earn less than the national figure and about $9,400 less than the Wisconsin median. Several Wisconsin programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every Wisconsin design and applied arts program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Wisconsin 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 28% 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 $193 a month, or 7.0% 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
90% of graduates (26 of 29) were working in Wisconsin one year after graduating. Prices in the Green Bay area are about 7% below the national average, so a $32,991 salary here buys what about $35,441 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 design and applied arts, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Graphic Designers
$59,900Median pay in Wisconsin. 4,130 people work in this job in Wisconsin. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 16,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Web and Digital Interface Designers
$95,340Median pay in Wisconsin. 880 people work in this job in Wisconsin. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Interior Designers
$62,740Median pay in Wisconsin. 1,200 people work in this job in Wisconsin. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Art Directors
$81,130Median pay in Wisconsin. 730 people work in this job in Wisconsin. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
About UW-Green Bay
Design and Applied Arts ranks 16th of 21 bachelor's programs at UW-Green Bay by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($70,213), Accounting ($59,104), and Liberal Arts and General Studies ($54,436).
Other design and applied arts bachelor's programs near Green Bay
Common questions
The median graduate earns $32,991 one year after graduating and $42,182 five years after. The median across design and applied arts bachelor's programs in Wisconsin is $36,920.
The median federal loan balance is $18,186, which ranks the lowest of 9 design and applied arts bachelor's programs in Wisconsin. That works out to about $193 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 55% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 77%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Wisconsin programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 90% (26 of 29) were working in Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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 design and applied arts 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