Which Michigan psychology program has the lowest debt?

Northern Michigan University reports the lowest median federal debt, $22,727, with first-year pay of $28,246.

How much do psychology graduates earn in Michigan?

The median across 21 Michigan psychology bachelor's programs is $30,100 in the first year after graduating and $48,393 five years after.

How many psychology bachelor's programs are in Michigan?

21 Michigan programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 21 of them also report federal debt.

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

21 programs report first-year pay
21 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Psychology, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Michigan psychology bachelor's program pays its graduates $30,100 in their first year, $1,379 less than the national median. Spring Arbor University reports the highest first-year pay ($35,492), and Northern Michigan University the lowest median debt ($22,727).

Median first-year pay$30,100National $31,479

Median pay after 5 years$48,393National $49,019

Median federal debt$26,724National $25,624

Debt-to-earnings88%National 78%

All 21 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	Spring Arbor UniversitySpring Arbor · private nonprofit	$35,492	$42,212	$26,000	73%
2	Cornerstone UniversityGrand Rapids · private nonprofit	$34,505	$35,883	$37,854	110%
3	Rochester Christian UniversityRochester Hills · private nonprofit	$33,375	$47,279	$29,687	89%
4	Baker CollegeOwosso · private nonprofit	$32,913	$39,022	$41,688	127%
5	UM-DearbornDearborn · public	$31,803	$53,909	$27,977	88%
6	Aquinas CollegeGrand Rapids · private nonprofit	$31,789	$48,393	$27,000	85%
7	Central Michigan UniversityMount Pleasant · public	$31,166	$52,674	$27,000	87%
8	Eastern Michigan UniversityYpsilanti · public	$30,490	$48,294	$28,403	93%
9	UM-FlintFlint · public	$30,259	$42,106	$29,500	97%
10	Michigan StateEast Lansing · public	$30,164	$56,392	$25,250	84%
11	Grand Valley StateAllendale · public	$30,100	$50,042	$25,187	84%
12	Saginaw Valley StateUniversity Center · public	$30,092	$47,832	$26,447	88%
13	Ferris StateBig Rapids · public	$29,503	$44,872	$27,125	92%
14	Wayne StateDetroit · public	$29,255	$53,572	$26,087	89%
15	Western Michigan UniversityKalamazoo · public	$28,890	$50,201	$27,000	93%
16	Northern Michigan UniversityMarquette · public	$28,246	$41,906	$22,727	80%
17	Hope CollegeHolland · private nonprofit	$28,135	$51,887	$24,656	88%
18	Oakland UniversityRochester Hills · public	$28,026	$49,500	$24,510	87%
19	Calvin UniversityGrand Rapids · private nonprofit	$27,440	$48,432	$23,767	87%
20	Kalamazoo CollegeKalamazoo · private nonprofit	$26,952	$53,202	$24,650	91%
21	University of OlivetOlivet · private nonprofit	$25,656	Not reported	$27,000	105%

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

Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan psychology 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 21 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 psychology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists

$84,730

Median pay in Michigan. 2,170 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 12% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.

Bottom 10%: $61,290Top 10%: $134,980

Social Science Research Assistants

$60,210

Median pay in Michigan. 750 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $41,970Top 10%: $82,870

Industrial-Organizational Psychologists

$193,950

Median pay nationwide. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 300 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Common questions

Spring Arbor University in Spring Arbor reports the highest median first-year pay, $35,492. Its median federal debt is $26,000.

Psychology (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked875 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 psychology 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