Which Michigan electrical engineering program has the lowest debt?

University of Michigan reports the lowest median federal debt, $18,667, with first-year pay of $87,606.

How much do electrical engineering graduates earn in Michigan?

The median across 12 Michigan electrical engineering bachelor's programs is $80,031 in the first year after graduating and $102,673 five years after.

How many electrical engineering bachelor's programs are in Michigan?

12 Michigan programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 10 of them also report federal debt.

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

12 programs report first-year pay
10 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Michigan electrical engineering bachelor's program pays its graduates $80,031 in their first year, $2,103 more than the national median. University of Michigan reports the highest first-year pay ($87,606), and University of Michigan the lowest median debt ($18,667).

Median first-year pay$80,031National $77,928

Median pay after 5 years$102,673National $99,155

Median federal debt$26,500National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings33%National 32%

All 12 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.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	University of MichiganAnn Arbor · public	$87,606	$109,107	$18,667	21%
2	Kettering UniversityFlint · private nonprofit	$86,360	$100,365	$30,080	35%
3	Michigan StateEast Lansing · public	$83,874	$102,673	$22,500	27%
4	Grand Valley StateAllendale · public	$80,732	Not reported	$29,172	36%
5	Lawrence Technological UniversitySouthfield · private nonprofit	$80,671	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
6	Oakland UniversityRochester Hills · public	$80,623	$102,740	$26,000	32%
7	Michigan TechHoughton · public	$79,439	$100,565	$27,000	34%
8	Saginaw Valley StateUniversity Center · public	$78,950	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
9	UM-DearbornDearborn · public	$78,942	$106,893	$21,853	28%
10	Wayne StateDetroit · public	$78,738	$107,566	$25,350	32%
11	Western Michigan UniversityKalamazoo · public	$76,145	$97,447	$30,707	40%
12	Central Michigan UniversityMount Pleasant · public	$71,457	$98,443	$30,000	42%

Lawrence Technological University and Saginaw Valley State report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan electrical engineering 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 10 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

University of Michigan$87,606
Kettering University$86,360
Michigan State$83,874
Grand Valley State$80,732
Lawrence Technological University$80,671

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"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 electrical engineering, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Architectural and Engineering Managers

$166,930

Median pay in Michigan. 14,820 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $117,490Top 10%: $218,050

Electrical Engineers

$106,070

Median pay in Michigan. 10,840 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $75,880Top 10%: $159,090

Electronics Engineers, Except Computer

$127,200

Median pay in Michigan. 2,960 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $89,320Top 10%: $166,410

Computer Hardware Engineers

$119,670

Median pay in Michigan. 1,420 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $78,240Top 10%: $176,700

Common questions

University of Michigan in Ann Arbor reports the highest median first-year pay, $87,606. Its median federal debt is $18,667.

Electrical Engineering (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked247 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 electrical engineering 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

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024