Bachelor's · Marquette, Michigan

Is Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies at Northern Michigan 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 slowly: graduates typically recover the cost in about 12 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $35,205; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $42,946; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: Not enough borrowers to report; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $54k (likely $54k – $73k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $6k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in MI; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 12 years (likely 6.4–20+); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$169k (likely −$251k – −$86k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: −$76k (likely −$227k – $107k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 54%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26