Western Michigan University Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Design and Applied Arts
- Public university
- Kalamazoo, MI
- About 49 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Western Michigan University design and applied arts graduates earn more than graduates of most design and applied arts programs nationally, $39,077 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $27,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $27,000. It is one of the higher-paying design and applied arts 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 design and applied arts bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Western Michigan University graduates earn more than the national figure and about $14,359 more than the Michigan median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan design and applied arts 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 73% 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, but borrowed more: a median of $34,125 against $27,000.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $286 a month, or 8.8% 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
68% of graduates (39 of 57) were working in Michigan one year after graduating. Prices in the Kalamazoo area are about 5% below the national average, so a $39,077 salary here buys what about $41,203 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
$57,350Median pay in Michigan. 6,070 people work in this job in Michigan. 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
$81,010Median pay in Michigan. 1,750 people work in this job in Michigan. 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
$59,340Median pay in Michigan. 1,930 people work in this job in Michigan. 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
$86,660Median pay in Michigan. 1,080 people work in this job in Michigan. 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 Western Michigan University
Design and Applied Arts ranks 24th of 50 bachelor's programs at Western Michigan University by first-year earnings. The top three are Paper Science and Engineering ($86,401), Electrical Engineering ($76,145), and Nursing ($75,149).
Other design and applied arts bachelor's programs near Kalamazoo
Common questions
The median graduate earns $39,077 one year after graduating and $67,581 five years after. The median across design and applied arts bachelor's programs in Michigan is $34,045.
The median federal loan balance is $27,000, which ranks 3rd lowest of 8 design and applied arts bachelor's programs in Michigan. That works out to about $286 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 69% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 77%.
Most do. 68% (39 of 57) 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 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