Master's · East Lansing, Michigan

Is Marketing at Michigan State University worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

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

Pays back fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 2.1 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $89,090; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $107,899; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $33,000; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published): $35k (likely $35k – $35k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $43k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out in MI; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 2.1 years (likely 1.7–2.8); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $226k (likely $124k – $326k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $763k (likely $527k – $1.02M); Today's dollars

Scorecard reports no net price for graduate programs; cost is based on what graduates typically borrowed.