Career outcomes brief

Bowling Green State University-Main Campus Career Outcomes & Earnings

Updated September 30, 2026

How much do Bowling Green State University-Main Campus graduates earn?

The reported median is $54,998 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $65,610 as its benchmark; the difference is -$10,612 per year.

Four years after completion, graduates of Bowling Green State University-Main Campus earn a median of $54,998, in the 32nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That figure sits below the peer median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $10,612.

Graduates earn about $6,819 less than expects for similar students, a result in the 29th percentile. Azimuth places the return in the 36th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $6,095. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $12,914.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $915. The median earnings and the earnings-beyond-expectations result both land below the midpoint.

The earnings scenarios at Bowling Green State University-Main Campus span from a downside of $43,771 to an upside of $80,753 four years after completion, with the typical scenario at $54,998. That range shows the variation in earnings across the university's 59 programs with published data.

The highest-earning programs illustrate the upper end of the spread: Computer Engineering completers earn a median of $93,626 four years after completion, Engineering-Related Fields completers earn a median of $89,514, and General Sales, Merchandising and Related Marketing Operations completers earn a median of $86,245.

An estimated 26.8% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure derived from the university's program mix rather than observed enrollment. Because four-year earnings figures capture only those working and not enrolled, the median earnings understate the eventual earnings of the sizable share of completers who pursue advanced degrees.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $54,998
Rank for difference from expectations: 29th percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

Bowling Green State University-Main Campus reported median: $54,998
Peer schools comparable schools · $10,612 above Bowling Green State University-Main Campus: $65,610
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $6,819 above Bowling Green State University-Main Campus: $61,817

School and program earnings use pooled 2017–18 and 2018–19 completion cohorts, measured in 2022 and 2023 and expressed in 2024 dollars. How the model works.

How could earnings differ from the median?

Earnings four years after completion

Planning rangeReported median

Lower estimate: $43,771
Median · reported: $54,998
Higher estimate: $80,753

Downside shows a lower-earning scenario based on the college’s mix of programs; upside shows a higher-earning scenario. Typical is the school’s reported median four years after completion. These are planning scenarios, not a forecast of your salary or percentiles of individual graduates.

Why the downside matters explores the risk hidden by medians, using older ten-year entrant data. Read about the move to four-year earnings.

Do Bowling Green State University-Main Campus graduates earn more than expected?

Azimuth models what we would expect graduates to earn based on who the college enrolls, how selective it is and its local economy. The difference between that expectation and reported earnings is what Azimuth calls value added.

Bowling Green State University-Main Campus graduates’ reported earnings are $6,819 below that expectation, the 29th percentile for this measure. Unlike a peer comparison, it adjusts for who enrolls.

The breakdown separates the contribution attributed to observed factors from the remaining difference. Neither component establishes how much attending Bowling Green State University-Main Campus caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at Bowling Green State University-Main Campus report the highest earnings?

The largest programs at Bowling Green State University-Main Campus span education and business fields with very different earnings profiles four years after completion. Special Education and Teaching, the largest program, shows a median of $45,224 with 204 degrees awarded.

Business Administration and Management, the second largest, posts $79,291 on 128 degrees awarded. The highest-earning programs are concentrated in engineering.

Computer Engineering leads with a median of $93,626 on 49 degrees awarded. Engineering-Related Fields follows at $89,514 on 53 degrees awarded.

The spread between these engineering, business, and education programs shows wide variation in median earnings four years after completion.

Bowling Green State University-Main Campus awards the most bachelor's degrees in Special Education and Teaching, with 204 degrees awarded and a median of $45,224 four years after completion. Business Administration and Management follows with 128 degrees awarded and a median of $79,291.

Kinesiology and Physical Education awarded 127 degrees, with completers earning a median of $52,818 four years after completion. The highest-earning field is Computer Engineering, where 49 degrees were awarded and completers earn a median of $93,626 four years after completion.

Engineering-Related Fields follows at $89,514 with 53 degrees awarded. The program mix leans toward Business (16.4% of degrees awarded) and Education (15.4%).

Highest reported four-year program earnings

Computer Engineering: $93,626
Engineering-Related Fields: $89,514
General Sales, Merchandising and Related Marketing Operations: $86,245
Management Information Systems and Services: $84,838
Information Science/Studies: $84,273
Construction Engineering: $82,365
Business Administration, Management and Operations: $79,291
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing: $78,798

Explore Bowling Green State University-Main Campus program cohorts and field ranks for more context.

Further analysis

Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix run from $43,771 to $80,753, with a typical outcome of $54,998. That spread coincides with the gap between Computer Engineering, at $93,626 four years after completion, and Teacher Education, the lowest-earning of the largest programs, at $45,168.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates of Bowling Green State University-Main Campus who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $54,998. That figure is drawn from an earnings cohort of 4,864 completers, and it sits $10,612 below the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth places the university's median earnings in the 32nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $6,819 less than the model expects for similar students.

The gap falls at the 29th percentile. Earnings scenarios based on the program mix show a typical figure of $54,998, with a downside of $43,771 and an upside of $80,753.

An estimated 26.8% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Data & methodology

Sources and reporting periods: methodology.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.