Career outcomes brief

Northern Michigan University Career Outcomes & Earnings

Updated September 30, 2026

How much do Northern Michigan University graduates earn?

The reported median is $52,624 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $57,301 as its benchmark; the difference is -$4,677 per year.

Earnings at Northern Michigan University run below what expects, and the return lands in the 19th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $9,071 less than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 22nd percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $4,535. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $13,606.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $683. Four years after completion, completers earn a median of $52,624, in the 25th percentile nationally.

That is below the peer median of $57,301 for comparable institutions (same type and size), a gap of $4,677. The return picture is mixed: earnings fall short of the model's expectation and sit below the peer median, though the program mix alone adds to expected earnings.

The spread between the downside and upside earnings scenarios at Northern Michigan University is wide: from $40,782 to $77,236 four years after completion. That range shows the variation in earnings across the university's 27 programs with published data.

The highest-earning programs show what the upper end of that spread looks like. Construction Management completers earn a median of $91,682, Computer and Information Sciences graduates reach $90,337, and Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians completers earn $82,326.

An estimated 30.3% 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, a portion of completers are not included in the earnings snapshot.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $52,624
Rank for difference from expectations: 22nd percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

Northern Michigan University reported median: $52,624
Peer schools comparable schools · $4,677 above Northern Michigan University: $57,301
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $9,071 above Northern Michigan University: $61,695

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 many Northern Michigan University students return and finish their degrees?

First-time, full-time bachelor’s cohorts · CDS 2025-26

Returned the following fall: 75.6%
Completed within six years: 54.8%
Pell recipients completed within six years: 40.1%

Source: Northern Michigan University Common Data Set 2025-26, B22 retention; B4–B11 six-year completion. Retention and completion follow different entering cohorts.

How could earnings differ from the median?

Earnings four years after completion

Planning rangeReported median

Lower estimate: $40,782
Median · reported: $52,624
Higher estimate: $77,236

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 Northern Michigan University 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.

Northern Michigan University graduates’ reported earnings are $9,071 below that expectation, the 22nd 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 Northern Michigan University caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at Northern Michigan University report the highest earnings?

Northern Michigan University's highest-earning bachelor's programs diverge widely from its largest fields, which land in a more moderate earnings range. Construction Management records the highest median at $91,682 four years after completion, with 32 degrees awarded that year.

Computer and Information Sciences is next at $90,337 on 23 degrees awarded. Nursing, the largest program, awards 103 degrees and shows a median of $77,670.

Biology awards 99 degrees with a median of $43,698. The gap between these technical high earners and the larger, moderate-earning fields reflects the range embedded in the university's program mix.

Earnings vary widely by program at Northern Michigan University. The largest program, Nursing, awarded 103 degrees and its completers earn a median of $77,670 four years after completion.

Biology follows with 99 degrees awarded and a median of $43,698, while Psychology awarded 67 degrees and reports $43,349. The highest-earning programs are led by Construction Management, where completers earn a median of $91,682 four years after graduating, with 32 degrees awarded.

Computer and Information Sciences follows at $90,337 with 23 degrees awarded. Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians rounds out the top three at $82,326, from 16 degrees awarded.

These three programs all show medians above the university-wide figure of $52,624 four years after completion.

Highest reported four-year program earnings

Construction Management: $91,682
Computer and Information Sciences, General: $90,337
Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians: $82,326
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing: $77,670
Marketing: $68,157
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions: $67,522
Finance and Financial Management Services: $63,730
Accounting and Related Services: $62,901

Explore Northern Michigan University program cohorts and field ranks for more context.

Further analysis

The spread between Construction Management ($91,682) and Psychology ($43,349) shows how much field choice matters at Northern Michigan University. Earnings scenarios that reflect the university's program mix put the downside at $40,782, the typical outcome at $52,624, and the upside at $77,236.

Four years after completion, federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $52,624 at Northern Michigan University. That figure is below the median of $57,301 for comparable institutions (same type and size), and it places the university in the 25th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The four-year earnings cohort includes 1,926 completers. Graduates earn about $9,071 less than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 22nd percentile nationally.

Earnings scenarios anchored on the university's program mix show a downside scenario of $40,782 and an upside scenario reaching $77,236. An estimated 30.3% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.

The earnings picture is subdued: the median sits below the peer benchmark. Graduates fall short of the model's expectation.

The earnings scenarios show a wide spread between the downside and upside outcomes.

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.