Median Annual Wages by Field of Study shows the median annual wages for students who earned a postsecondary certificate or degree in a field of study after one and five years of earning their certificates or degrees. The report also shows the number of employed completers whose wages are being summarized.
This report allows users to make up to two comparisons between a field of study – either summarized or detailed – in which students earned a degree.
The data help us understand how median annual wages differ between postsecondary field of studies and how many former Michigan students are finding a job in Michigan with their certificates and/or degrees. Both 2-digit and 4-digit CIP codes can be found using the dropdown selection. The download data file in the link below the graph will provide statewide data, 2-digit, 4-digit and 6-digit CIP code field of study descriptions.
Exploring the Median Annual Wages by Field of Study report can answer questions like:
What are the median wages in Michigan for someone with an engineering bachelor’s degree?
Select Engineering (14) from the dropdown and compare the education levels either one or five years after earning a degree.
How many students are being employed in Michigan with an architecture degree?
Select Architecture and Related Services (04) and toggle to the Number Employed data table.
How can I compare the various health professions and related programs?
Users can compare up to two field of studies using the Add Comparison Field of Study button. Select Health Professions and Related Programs (51) and opt to choose a more detailed category if interested. The data will display in the chart and the table together.
To calculate Median Annual Wages by Field of Study, wage records are matched to the education records of those employed to ascertain the highest education level received and wages earned. Students are included if they received their high school education in Michigan and are currently employed in Michigan. Students may have earned their college certificate or degree from an out-of-state college or university. Students who are continuing in education are excluded from the report.
Two cohorts of students are then determined to calculate median wages one and five years after their highest level of education. For example, students who earned their degree in 2015-16 and are no longer enrolled make up the base population for the 2016-17 Median Wages After 1 Year. Students who earned their highest level of education in 2011-12 and are no longer enrolled make up the base population for the 2016-17 Median Wages After 5 Years. Former students can be counted multiple times within a year if they had multiple fields of studies.
Field of study is determined using the Classification of Instructional Programs code that colleges and universities include when submitting data to the state. CIP codes are important because colleges and universities have the freedom to name their programs uniquely and using the CIP code standardizes the meaning. In the event an award does not come with a CIP, those students are not included in the median annual wages calculation. CIP codes have a hierarchy format by using two-, four-, and six- digit CIP codes. This report only features two- and four- digit CIP codes. To learn more about CIP codes, visit the National Center for Education Statistics.
Median wages are calculated by degree level ranging from students who earned certificates through students who earned a master’s or higher degree. Median wages have been rounded to the nearest $100. There must be at least 10 former students employed for a median wage to be calculated.
Some fields of study such as education and criminal justice require a component of continuing education meaning earning additional certificates or undergraduate degrees after earning a graduate degree. For example, an employee with a master’s degree might be occasionally required to obtain a certificate to recertify their license or advance in their career. Because this report includes all awards that a student has earned, not just the highest award, the wage data for that student would be included in the median annual wage for the Certificate subgroup.
Report Labels
Median Annual Wage: The point at which half of workers earned more than that amount and half earned less.
Wages After 1 Year: Wages calculated four quarters (or one year) after the date of completing an education level.
Wages After 5 Years: Wages calculated twenty quarters (or five years) after the date of completing an education level.
Number Employed: The number of former students whose wages were used in the median annual wage calculation.
Education Level: No high school diploma, high school diploma, certificate, associate degree, bachelor’s degree, and master’s or higher degree.
Data Not Available: Median annual wages may not be available if the Number Employed is less than 10 former students or if there were not any people to consider for a field of study and education level.
Year of Employment: Represented by four quarters (or one year) of wage data. For example, 2016-17 represents third quarter 2016 through second quarter 2017 wage data.
Field of Study: Identified by the Classification on Instructional Programs Code, the field of study is the student’s postsecondary certificate or degree program. To learn more about CIP codes, visit the National Center for Education Statistics.
Data Collection
The Center for Educational Performance and Information, National Student Clearinghouse and the Talent Investment Agency collected the data used to complete this report:
- Student Transcript and Academic Record Repository to locate enrollment in a Michigan public community college or university. For details on the data definitions and how the data are collected, refer to the STARR Data Collection Manual.
- The NSC StudentTracker database to locate enrollment from out-of-state or non-STARR participating colleges or universities. For a list of all colleges and universities that CEPI has available in its postsecondary data system, refer to the Postsecondary Entity List.
- Unemployment insurance wage record data submitted by employers through Michigan’s Workforce Longitudinal Data System (WLDS).
