College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Central Michigan University

MILarge public institution · Overall rank #414 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks Central Michigan University #414 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

Central Michigan University is a public university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, where Business and Education lead the degree mix. Mobility is well above average.

Graduates earn about what predicts for students like them, and the typical graduate earns below the median at comparable schools. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds to earnings, while the part it cannot explain subtracts from them.

Pell Grant recipients complete at a rate within a fraction of a point of the overall cohort, and access is above average. Families at the bottom of the income scale pay well below the published cost, while those at the top pay closer to it.

The admission rate is above the median for comparable schools. Most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than further study.

Central Michigan University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
89.8%
Six-year completion[2]
58.7%
Four-year earnings[3]
$61,298

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$13,601
Median student debt[4]
$27,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$23,103

Central Michigan University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Central Michigan University is a public university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, with an undergraduate enrollment of 10,035. The university admits 89.8% of applicants, a rate above the 78.1% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size.

Among full-time first-year students, 75.4% return for a second year and 58.7% complete a degree within six years. Both figures run below the peer medians of 83.1% and 65.0%.

An estimated 31.8% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students. The four that make up the Azimuth composite are spread across the ranking.

Mobility is the strongest, at the 79th percentile. Access follows at the 72nd percentile, while return and affordability sit closer to the middle of the field, at the 58th and 51st percentiles.

Azimuth ranks Central Michigan University among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions. The university's clearest strength is mobility, which lands in the 79th percentile, while affordability, at the 51st percentile, is the weakest pillar.

Access sits in the 72nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, and return ranks at the 58th percentile. That leaves mobility and access as the stronger pair, with return and affordability lower.

31.4% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants. Azimuth ranks Central Michigan University #406 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients complete at 58.3%, 0.4 percentage points below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole. Azimuth ranks the university #302 for mobility.

Graduates earn about $173 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

Central Michigan University rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#414

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 79
Access & reach
National percentile: 72
Affordability
National percentile: 51
Return on investment
National percentile: 58

Top-ranked majors

  1. Community Organization and Advocacy#2
  2. Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations#8
  3. Social Sciences, Other#9

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / Central Michigan University briefing

Central Michigan University cost & financial aid[6][7]

The published cost of attendance at Central Michigan University is $30,681. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported in-state tuition of $15,570 and required fees of $450 for the 2026-27 academic year.

On-campus food and housing added $12,872 to the sticker price. After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients is $17,597, with financial aid reducing the published cost by $13,084 on average.

That net price is $1,963 above the $15,634 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Azimuth ranks the university #697 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Central Michigan University publishes a cost of attendance of $30,681. After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients from families earning under $30,000 is $12,185, while families in the $48,001–$75,000 band see an average of $13,601 and those earning over $110,000 average $21,403.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $9,218, a difference of averages, not what any single family pays. Azimuth ranks the university #697 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Aid covers about 43% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, an offset of $13,084 against the sticker price. The across all aid recipients is $17,597, which sits above the peer median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $1,963.

Among federal-loan borrowers who completed, the median federal student debt is $27,000, with 93.2% of federal aid recipients borrowing. That median is above the peer median of $20,076 for comparable institutions by $6,924.

For parent borrowers, the median Parent PLUS borrowing is $23,103. The median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $307 a month if repaid over ten years.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$13,601

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Central Michigan University

Borrowing is widespread at Central Michigan University: 93.2% of federal aid recipients take federal loans, and the median federal student debt at completion is $27,000. That median sits above the peer median of $20,076 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $6,924.

Parent borrowers, a separate population, carry a median Parent PLUS loan of $23,103. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported an average cumulative debt of $29,329 per borrower from any source among a cohort of 1,104 bachelor's graduates.

The federal average was $23,799 per federal borrower, and the university reported no private-loan borrowing among its graduates.

At Central Michigan University, debt for borrowers who finish runs above the peer median, while earnings land below it. Among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, median earnings four years after completion are $61,298.

That is the 55th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, and sits $4,312 below the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Graduates earn about $173 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

That outcome is at the 55th percentile. Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix range from $47,156 in a downside case to $79,617 in an upside case, with a typical outcome of $61,298.

Borrowers who complete hold a median of $27,000 in federal student loans. That is $6,924 above the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

If repaid over ten years, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $307 a month.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $23,103. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $307.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$27,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$23,103

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$307/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$294/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / Central Michigan University briefing

Central Michigan University career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Central Michigan University graduates earn a median of $61,298 four years after completion, at the 55th percentile nationally. That is $4,312 below the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth places the return pillar in the 58th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $173 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

That places the gap at the 55th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $9,161. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $8,988.

Federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $61,298 four years after completing a degree at Central Michigan University. Azimuth places that median in the 55th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The figure comes from a cohort of 5,932 completers and is a broad measure across fields, not a program-level result. The gap between actual and expected earnings is narrow: graduates earn about $173 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

Program-mix earnings scenarios span from $47,156 on the downside to $79,617 on the upside, with a typical outcome of $61,298. Based on the program mix, an estimated 28.4% of graduates continue to graduate study.

Four years after completing their degrees, graduates of Central Michigan University earn a median of $61,298. That figure is below the median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $4,312.

Graduates earn about $173 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level, a result that sits in the 55th percentile nationally. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $9,161.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $8,988. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $703.

Azimuth ranks the university's return pillar at the 58th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show a downside of $47,156 and an upside of $79,617, with a typical scenario of $61,298.

The program-level picture is mixed. The largest program, Psychology, awarded 248 degrees and shows median earnings of $53,422 four years after completion, ranking #128 in its field nationally.

Business Administration and Management is the second-largest by awards at 231 degrees, with stronger earnings of $74,113 and a national rank of #125. The highest-earning program is Management Information Systems and Services, where graduates earn a median of $95,721 and the program ranks #24 nationally.

Azimuth also identifies Neuroscience as a high-return program: its median earnings of $73,316 are 1.17x the national median for the field, and it ranks #18 nationally. A large business family and several well-ranked programs in education and social sciences coexist with earnings that, at the institutional level, sit just below the peer median.

The downside earnings scenario, estimated from the program mix, is $47,156, while the upside scenario reaches $79,617. These are scenarios, not observed groups of graduates.

At the higher end, Management Information Systems and Services graduates report median earnings of $95,721 four years after completion, from 54 degrees awarded. Electrical Engineering follows at $91,542, and Computer Science at $89,216. Reported earnings vary widely by program.

The published cost of attendance at Central Michigan University is $30,681, and aid covers about 43% of that for the average aid recipient. The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $17,597, which is $1,963 above the $15,634 peer median.

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $27,000 in federal student loans, $6,924 above the $20,076 median for comparable institutions. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $307 a month if repaid over ten years.

Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $23,103. The spread between the lowest and highest income-band net prices is $9,218.

Families earning under $30,000 average $12,185, while those earning over $110,000 average $21,403. The return picture is mixed: earnings sit below the peer median while debt runs above it.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$9,161
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$8,988
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$173

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / Central Michigan University briefing

Central Michigan University acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Central Michigan University is a broad-access public university that admits 89.8% of applicants, a figure well above the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). Most applicants receive an offer of admission.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
89.8%
25th percentile
970
Median
1100
75th percentile
1210

CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Central Michigan University briefing

What are the largest majors at Central Michigan University?[12]

Return varies widely by field at Central Michigan University. Management Information Systems and Services is the highest-earning program, with a median of $95,721 four years after completion, an Azimuth national rank of #24, and 54 degrees awarded.

Business Administration and Management, one of the largest programs at 231 degrees awarded, reaches $74,113 and ranks #125 nationally. By contrast, Psychology awards the most degrees at 248 but earns a median of $53,422 and ranks #128 in its field.

Subject-Area Teacher Education, with 215 degrees awarded, sits lower at $49,588 and ranks #88 nationally. The earnings spread among these programs four years after completion illustrates how much outcomes vary by field.

Central Michigan University publishes earnings data for 52 bachelor's programs, and 39 of them hold an Azimuth national rank. The highest-earning program is Management Information Systems and Services, where completers earn a median of $95,721 four years after completion, ranking #24 nationally.

Electrical Engineering follows at $91,542, and Computer Science at $89,216. Among the best-ranked programs, Community Organization and Advocacy sits at #2 nationally with 111 degrees awarded and a median of $58,344.

Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations ranks #8 nationally, with 28 degrees awarded, and reports a median of $57,513. The largest program, Psychology, awarded 248 degrees and shows a median of $53,422. It ranks #128 nationally and #3 in Michigan.

Central Michigan University awards bachelor's degrees across 39 ranked programs, with four-year earnings data available for 52. The program mix leans toward professional fields: Business accounts for 24.4% of degrees awarded, followed by Education at 9.9% and Psychology at 8.6%.

The largest single programs are Psychology at 248 degrees awarded, Business Administration and Management at 231, and Subject-Area Teacher Education at 215. 14.3% of degrees are in STEM fields.

The strongest programs are spread across several fields. Community Organization and Advocacy is the highest-ranked, with 111 degrees awarded and median earnings of $58,344 four years after completion; Azimuth ranks it #1 in Michigan within its field.

Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations ranks #8 nationally and #2 in Michigan within its field, with 28 degrees awarded and median earnings of $57,513 four years after completion. Social Sciences ranks #9 nationally and #1 in Michigan within its field, from 61 degrees awarded and median earnings of $54,888.

Neuroscience stands out for return, carrying a benchmark ratio of 1.17x against the national median for its field, with median earnings of $73,316. The pattern is one of strength in smaller, specialized programs alongside large, professionally oriented departments.

The highest-earning program, Management Information Systems and Services, awards 54 degrees a year and reports median earnings of $95,721, well above the $53,422 median for Psychology, the largest program. Several of the best-ranked programs sit in fields where graduate study is common, so four-year earnings may understate later trajectories.

The largest programs by awards are not the same as the highest-ranked or highest-earning ones.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Psychology, General 248 degrees awarded
$53,422
Business Administration, Management and Operations 231 degrees awarded
$74,113
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas 215 degrees awarded
$49,588
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness 213 degrees awarded
$57,771
Marketing 132 degrees awarded
$75,661
Community Organization and Advocacy 111 degrees awarded
$58,344

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / Central Michigan University briefing

How does Central Michigan University serve students from different backgrounds?

Central Michigan University's strongest pillar is mobility, where Azimuth ranks the university in the 79th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort complete at a rate of 58.3%, which is below the overall six-year graduation rate of 58.7% by 0.4 percentage points.

Graduates earn about $173 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level, a result in the 55th percentile for earnings beyond expectations. The Pell completion rate sits just below the overall graduation rate, and the earnings figure is near the model's expectation.

Central Michigan University is a public university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, enrolling 10,035 undergraduates. Azimuth places the university in the 72nd percentile for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The university admits 89.8% of applicants, and Pell Grant recipients make up 31.4% of the undergraduate body. An estimated 31.8% of students arrive as transfers or part-time students, reflecting a broad-access mission that draws from multiple entry points.

06 / Central Michigan University briefing

What colleges are similar to Central Michigan University?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with Central Michigan University.

Admissions peerGrand Valley State University83.0% admitted
Comparison with Central Michigan University
MeasureCentral Michigan UniversityGrand Valley State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$61,298$60,491-$807 vs Central Michigan University
Average annual net price$17,597$16,317-$1,280 vs Central Michigan University · lower cost
Admission rate89.8%83.0%
Explore Grand Valley State University →
Higher-admission alternativeUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee100.0% admitted
Comparison with Central Michigan University
MeasureCentral Michigan UniversityUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Peer earnings · 4 years$61,298$62,480+$1,182 vs Central Michigan University
Average annual net price$17,597$15,014-$2,583 vs Central Michigan University · lower cost
Admission rate89.8%100.0%
Explore University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee →
Nearby alternativeGrand Valley State UniversityNearby option · MI
Comparison with Central Michigan University
MeasureCentral Michigan UniversityGrand Valley State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$61,298$60,491-$807 vs Central Michigan University
Average annual net price$17,597$16,317-$1,280 vs Central Michigan University · lower cost
Admission rate89.8%83.0%
Explore Grand Valley State University →
Higher-earnings alternativeDavenport University$69,009 earnings
Comparison with Central Michigan University
MeasureCentral Michigan UniversityDavenport University
Peer earnings · 4 years$61,298$69,009+$7,711 vs Central Michigan University
Average annual net price$17,597$17,707+$110 vs Central Michigan University · higher cost
Admission rate89.8%97.8%
Lower-cost alternativeFerris State University$8,624 average net price
Comparison with Central Michigan University
MeasureCentral Michigan UniversityFerris State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$61,298$64,721+$3,423 vs Central Michigan University
Average annual net price$17,597$8,624-$8,973 vs Central Michigan University · lower cost
Admission rate89.8%91.4%
Explore Ferris State University →
Similar profileEastern Michigan UniversityMatched across several measures
Comparison with Central Michigan University
MeasureCentral Michigan UniversityEastern Michigan University
Peer earnings · 4 years$61,298$59,616-$1,682 vs Central Michigan University
Average annual net price$17,597$15,407-$2,190 vs Central Michigan University · lower cost
Admission rate89.8%79.6%
Explore Eastern Michigan University →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

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

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

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings