Saginaw Valley State University

Saginaw Valley State University's program mix is anchored in health, education, and applied professional fields — a signature consistent with its regional public university identity in mid-Michigan. The dominant program family is Health, which accounts for 15% of graduates, followed by Business at 15% and Arts at 5%.

Across 41 programs serving roughly 1,421 students annually, the institution concentrates its degree output in fields with direct workforce pathways rather than research-track or graduate-school-dependent pipelines. The program with the strongest combination of enrollment scale and earnings is Nursing, which anchors Saginaw Valley State University's economic profile by pairing a large graduating cohort with competitive four-year earnings.

Among the most popular programs, Nursing program graduates 178 students and delivers median earnings of $81,103 four years after enrollment, with Azimuth ranking the program #215 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Special Education and Teaching and Social Work round out the high-enrollment tier, each feeding graduates into stable regional labor markets where demand for health and education professionals remains steady.

The highest-earning programs at Saginaw Valley State University reflect the institution's health-sciences depth. Nursing leads on earnings, with graduates posting median earnings of $81,103 four years after enrollment — Azimuth ranks the program #215 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions and Criminal Justice follow, both representing high-mobility direct-to-workforce pathways where graduates enter licensed or credentialed roles with strong hiring demand. For context on how these fields align with national labor-market trends, see [supply and demand for college graduates](/analysis/supply-demand-map-college-degrees/).

Saginaw Valley State University's published cost of attendance is $24,936. Net price by income band shows meaningful variation across family circumstances: low-income families pay approximately $9,844, middle-income families pay around $20,053, and higher-income families pay approximately $24,103.

Azimuth ranks Saginaw Valley State University #318 for post-graduation affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. Net prices by income band are medians within those bands; individual aid packages vary, so some families in each band pay more and some less than the figures shown.

Saginaw Valley State University's aid structure combines federal, state, and institutional funding to close gaps between sticker price and what families actually pay. The institution participates in federal Pell Grants and Direct Loans, Michigan state aid programs, and offers need-based institutional scholarships to qualifying students.

For many low- and middle-income families, this aid structure meaningfully reduces the headline cost, which is why net price often falls substantially below the published cost of attendance. Median federal student loan debt at graduation is $25,000, and families using Parent PLUS borrow a median of $18,264; private or institutional loans may add further borrowing that falls outside these federal-only figures — see the [Parent PLUS risk framework](/analysis/ou-what-happens-when-parents-borrow-too/) for how household context shapes PLUS decisions.

For a graduate at the institution's median four-year earnings of $63,454, median federal debt of $25,000 projects to a monthly payment of about $282 under standard ten-year repayment. For personalized projections across earnings scenarios — including Parent PLUS planning — use [Azimuth's Financial GPS tool](/analysis/financial-gps-framework/).

Graduates earn median 4-year earnings of $63,454, placing Saginaw Valley State University in the 63.5 percentile for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $2,863 more than similar students at comparable institutions, placing Saginaw Valley State University in the 69.6 percentile for [earnings beyond expectations](/analysis/a-value-added-approach-to-college-outcomes/) among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Azimuth ranks Saginaw Valley State University #563 for return on investment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Those figures represent meaningful returns relative to MI's no-degree earnings baseline of $30,928, the state median earnings of working adults with only a high school credential.

The earnings pattern at Saginaw Valley State University is anchored in Health and related applied fields. Nursing stands out as a key program by aggregate return, combining cohort scale with solid four-year earnings.

Nursing is among the largest programs, with 178 graduates earning median four-year earnings of $81,103, and Azimuth ranks it #215 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions [per the program-ranking methodology](/analysis/college-program-rankings-how-to-actually-evaluate-programs/). Special Education and Teaching and Social Work round out the strongest-earning programs, with graduates earning median four-year earnings of $50,078 and $56,961 respectively — fields where employer demand in regional health and public-sector labor markets supports consistent hiring.

Program mix is concentrated in Education (15% of graduates), followed by Business (15%) and Arts (5%), a distribution that shapes the institution's overall earnings profile and reflects its regional workforce orientation.