US College Programs

Specialized Sales and Merchandising (Bachelor's) Programs in Michigan, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

  • 5 programs report first-year pay
  • 5 also report federal debt
  • Bachelor's in Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Michigan specialized sales and merchandising bachelor's program pays its graduates $33,121 in their first year, $2,685 less than the national median. Northwood University reports the highest first-year pay ($64,100), and Western Michigan University the lowest median debt ($26,000).

Median first-year pay$33,121National $35,806
Median pay after 5 years$56,141National $48,340
Median federal debt$27,000National $26,850
Debt-to-earnings90%National 72%

All 5 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.

Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan specialized sales and merchandising 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 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

  1. Northwood University$64,100
  2. Ferris State$46,695
  3. Eastern Michigan University$33,121
  4. Central Michigan University$29,203
  5. Western Michigan University$28,765

Lowest median debt

  1. Western Michigan University$26,000
  2. Ferris State$26,750
  3. Northwood University$27,000
  4. Central Michigan University$27,000
  5. Eastern Michigan University$34,499

Lowest debt for the pay

  1. Northwood University42%
  2. Ferris State57%
  3. Western Michigan University90%
  4. Central Michigan University92%
  5. Eastern Michigan University104%

"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 specialized sales and merchandising, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products

$72,980

Median pay in Michigan. 40,960 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 99,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $39,740Top 10%: $136,050

First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers

$46,430

Median pay in Michigan. 30,750 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 113,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $31,610Top 10%: $70,640

Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists

$66,780

Median pay in Michigan. 24,220 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 82,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $40,930Top 10%: $127,190

Buyers and Purchasing Agents

$75,900

Median pay in Michigan. 16,680 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 47,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $47,260Top 10%: $126,330

Common questions

Northwood University in Midland reports the highest median first-year pay, $64,100. Its median federal debt is $27,000.

Related pages

Specialized Sales and Merchandising (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked44 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 specialized sales and merchandising 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