Bachelor's · Big Rapids, Michigan

Is Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies at Ferris State University worth it?

Low confidence Low confidence: fewer than 40 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back in time: graduates typically recover the cost in about 5.1 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $34,061; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $51,368; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $25,564; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $36k (likely $36k – $45k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $15k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in MI; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 5.1 years (likely 3.4–9.3); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$61k (likely −$150k – $36k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $134k (likely −$48k – $355k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 44%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26