US College Programs

Chemistry (Bachelor's) Programs in Michigan, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

  • 6 programs report first-year pay
  • 6 also report federal debt
  • Bachelor's in Chemistry

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Michigan chemistry bachelor's program pays its graduates $39,736 in their first year, $2,469 less than the national median. Grand Valley State reports the highest first-year pay ($46,496), and Wayne State the lowest median debt ($21,590).

Median first-year pay$39,736National $42,204
Median pay after 5 years$61,592National $66,546
Median federal debt$25,250National $23,600
Debt-to-earnings64%National 55%

All 6 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

2 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan chemistry 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 the 6 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

  1. Grand Valley State$46,496
  2. Eastern Michigan University$45,060
  3. Kalamazoo College$39,940
  4. Michigan State$39,531
  5. Wayne State$35,813

Lowest median debt

  1. Wayne State$21,590
  2. Eastern Michigan University$22,300
  3. Grand Valley State$25,000
  4. Hope College$26,636
  5. Kalamazoo College$27,000

Lowest debt for the pay

  1. Eastern Michigan University49%
  2. Grand Valley State54%
  3. Wayne State60%
  4. Kalamazoo College68%
  5. Michigan State72%

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to chemistry, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$66,030

Median pay in Michigan. 25,540 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $47,830Top 10%: $98,720

Data Scientists

$100,590

Median pay in Michigan. 7,360 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 35% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $60,830Top 10%: $162,670

Natural Sciences Managers

$129,070

Median pay in Michigan. 2,220 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $68,380Top 10%: $222,030

Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health

$76,080

Median pay in Michigan. 3,100 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $52,300Top 10%: $111,770

Common questions

Grand Valley State in Allendale reports the highest median first-year pay, $46,496. Its median federal debt is $25,000.

Related pages

Chemistry (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked189 programs by pay and debt

About this data

  • Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
  • 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 rankings when their main campus is in another state.
  • Medians are across the chemistry bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024