Top Ranked Programs
Ferris State University's program mix is anchored in applied-professional and career-oriented fields, with Business as the dominant program family. Business accounts for 22% of graduates, followed by Arts at 7% and Education at 5% — a distribution that reflects the university's identity as a career-focused public institution in western Michigan. Across 47 programs serving roughly 1,884 students annually, 35 meet Azimuth's ranking threshold. Criminal Justice combines strong enrollment with solid earnings, making it a key driver of the institution's overall financial outcomes. Among the largest programs, Criminal Justice program graduates 249 students annually with median earnings of $60,325 four years after enrollment, and Azimuth ranks the program #22 nationally for median earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. The Business Administration program graduates 181 students with median earnings of $64,131, while The Nursing program graduates 107 students earning $81,718. On the earnings side, Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians leads with median earnings of $91,993 four years after enrollment, and Azimuth ranks the program #2 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions. Construction Management follows at $90,504, and Azimuth ranks Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians #9 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions with median earnings of $82,821. The strongest earnings at Ferris State University cluster in health-related and technical fields where graduates enter the workforce directly with credentials aligned to employer demand. Programs like Nursing and Business Administration — with median earnings of $81,718 and $64,131 respectively — reflect pathways where four-year earnings capture real labor-market outcomes rather than undercounting graduates bound for additional schooling. The [supply-demand map for college graduates](/analysis/supply-demand-map-college-degrees/) provides broader context for how these applied fields align with national hiring trends, and the [program-ranking methodology](/analysis/college-program-rankings-how-to-actually-evaluate-programs/) explains how Azimuth evaluates programs across cohort scale, earnings, and benchmark performance. ```