Which Michigan history program has the lowest debt?

University of Michigan reports the lowest median federal debt, $19,494, with first-year pay of $31,215.

How much do history graduates earn in Michigan?

The median across 10 Michigan history bachelor's programs is $32,555 in the first year after graduating and $46,187 five years after.

How many history bachelor's programs are in Michigan?

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

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

10 programs report first-year pay
10 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in History

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Michigan history bachelor's program pays its graduates $32,555 in their first year, $845 more than the national median. Wayne State reports the highest first-year pay ($41,874), and University of Michigan the lowest median debt ($19,494).

Median first-year pay$32,555National $31,710

Median pay after 5 years$46,187National $50,314

Median federal debt$27,000National $23,973

Debt-to-earnings81%National 73%

All 10 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	Wayne StateDetroit · public	$41,874	$52,040	$32,544	78%
2	Saginaw Valley StateUniversity Center · public	$38,628	$45,658	$29,702	77%
3	Oakland UniversityRochester Hills · public	$36,257	$45,903	$22,875	63%
4	Central Michigan UniversityMount Pleasant · public	$33,000	$46,744	$25,905	79%
5	Northern Michigan UniversityMarquette · public	$32,675	$43,326	$27,000	83%
6	Michigan StateEast Lansing · public	$32,434	$48,421	$27,000	83%
7	University of MichiganAnn Arbor · public	$31,215	$65,724	$19,494	62%
8	Eastern Michigan UniversityYpsilanti · public	$28,414	$44,105	$29,118	102%
9	Grand Valley StateAllendale · public	$27,341	$40,634	$26,500	97%
10	Western Michigan UniversityKalamazoo · public	$27,087	Not reported	$31,000	114%

Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan history 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

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 history, 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

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

Tour and Travel Guides

$35,090

Median pay in Michigan. 1,160 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $28,130Top 10%: $47,250

Museum Technicians and Conservators

$39,000

Median pay in Michigan. 340 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $33,780Top 10%: $62,140

Common questions

Wayne State in Detroit reports the highest median first-year pay, $41,874. Its median federal debt is $32,544.

History (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked370 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 history 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