Western Michigan University Human Resources (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Human Resources Management and Services
- Public university
- Kalamazoo, MI
- About 43 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Western Michigan University human resources graduates earn about what human resources graduates earn nationally, $48,115 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $27,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $26,442. 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 human resources bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Western Michigan University graduates earn less than the national figure and about $8,688 less than the Michigan median. Several Michigan programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan human resources 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 22% 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 $5,211 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 $286 a month, or 7.1% 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, 35 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $31,096.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
83% of graduates (74 of 89) were working in Michigan one year after graduating. Prices in the Kalamazoo area are about 5% below the national average, so a $48,115 salary here buys what about $50,733 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 human resources, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Human Resources Specialists
$69,520Median pay in Michigan. 25,520 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 73,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Training and Development Specialists
$64,350Median pay in Michigan. 10,640 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 46,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Compliance Officers
$77,390Median pay in Michigan. 9,720 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 32,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors
$59,440Median pay in Michigan. 9,170 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 27,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.
About Western Michigan University
Human Resources ranks 17th 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 human resources bachelor's programs near Kalamazoo
Common questions
The median graduate earns $48,115 one year after graduating and $58,556 five years after. The median across human resources bachelor's programs in Michigan is $50,498.
The median federal loan balance is $27,000, which ranks 7th lowest of 12 human resources bachelor's programs in Michigan. That works out to about $286 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 56% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 53%. Compare the cost with other Michigan programs before deciding.
Most do. 83% (74 of 89) 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 human resources 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