WGU Marketing (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Marketing
- Private nonprofit university
- Salt Lake City, UT
- About 528 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
WGU marketing graduates earn more than graduates of most marketing programs nationally, $52,877 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $21,232 in federal loans, less than at 75% of marketing programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying marketing degrees in Utah.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Utah and national columns are the medians across all marketing bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, WGU graduates earn more than the national figure but about $3,413 less than the Utah median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Utah marketing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Utah 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 33% 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 $18,322 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 $225 a month, or 5.1% 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, 82 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $9,593.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
11% of graduates (59 of 529) were working in Utah one year after graduating. Prices in the Salt Lake City area are about 1% above the national average, so a $52,877 salary here buys what about $52,422 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 marketing, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
$62,630Median pay in Utah. 14,510 people work in this job in Utah. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 82,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Sales Managers
$136,520Median pay in Utah. 8,990 people work in this job in Utah. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 47,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Marketing Managers
$139,830Median pay in Utah. 6,100 people work in this job in Utah. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 34,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Web and Digital Interface Designers
$99,990Median pay in Utah. 1,060 people work in this job in Utah. 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.
About WGU
Marketing ranks 11th of 14 bachelor's programs at WGU by first-year earnings. The top three are Software and Media Applications ($95,292), Sales and Merchandising ($93,151), and Information Technology ($92,416).
Other marketing bachelor's programs near Salt Lake City
Common questions
The median graduate earns $52,877 one year after graduating and $70,202 five years after. The median across marketing bachelor's programs in Utah is $53,883.
The median federal loan balance is $21,232, which ranks 7th lowest of 7 marketing bachelor's programs in Utah. That works out to about $225 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 40% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 53%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 5% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Utah programs report higher pay.
Many leave. 11% (59 of 529) were working in Utah 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 Utah 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 marketing 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