Outcomes
What it pays
Former students earn a median $53,493 ten years after enrolling, more than at 49% of colleges; 59% graduate within six years. Four years of net price is about 1.5 years of that salary.
Earnings
Earnings climb with time
Staying and finishing
Retention
come back for year two
Graduation
graduate within six years
National median graduation rate: 59%
What graduates owe
$21.3K
According to Wayne State University's most recent Common Data Set, 47% of its Class of 2025 graduates (1,920 students) borrowed from any source: federal, institutional, state, or private, averaging $25,616 among those who did.
Counts students who started here as first-time students and earned a bachelor's; the federal median counts federal loans only, including students who left without a degree.
Everyone who starts here, 8 years later
Students who entered in fall 2016, including and part-time students. The graduation rate counts only first-time, full-time students and treats a transfer out as not finishing.
61 of 100 students who start here earn a degree or certificate here within 8 years; 22 more are enrolled at another college. (5,093 students)
All entering students, by whether they had a Pell Grant.
41 of 100 finish within 4 years, 59 within 6, and 61 within 8.
| Earned a credential within | 4 yrs | 6 yrs | 8 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|
| All students | 41% | 59% | 61% |
| Started in college here | 31% | 57% | 60% |
| Transferred in | 53% | 61% | 63% |
Transfer students' clock starts when they arrive here, not when they first started college.
National median: 60% of all entering students earn a credential at the college they started at within 8 years.
Do lower-income students finish?
Of 100 Pell Grant recipients who entered in fall 2019, 31 finished within 4 years and 54 within 6. First-time, full-time students who finished within 6 years; entered fall 2019.
- Pell Grant recipients1,319 students
54% · 31% within 4 years · 12 points below students with neither
- Subsidized loan, no Pell Grant347 students
62% · 39% within 4 years · 4 points below students with neither
- Neither Pell nor subsidized loan1,202 students
66% · 45% within 4 years · comparison group
Within 4 years
By race and ethnicity
First-time, full-time students who finished within 6 years, from the College Scorecard's most recent release. Groups under 30 students aren't shown.
- White1,657 students
63% · 3 points above all students
- Asian368 students
74% · 14 points above all students
- Hispanic/Latino189 students
46% · 14 points below all students
- Black462 students
37% · 23 points below all students
- Two or more races140 students
47% · 13 points below all students
- International46 students
74% · 14 points above all students
- American Indian/Alaska Native10 students
Not shown: under 30 students
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander2 students
Not shown: under 30 students
Cost vs. earnings
The 300 most-applied-to colleges plus Wayne State University. Top-left is lower cost and higher earnings.
↑ Median earnings 10 years after entry (higher = more)
Sources:College Scorecard, most recent release;Wayne State University Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2024;IPEDS Outcome Measures survey, Students entering fall 2016;Wayne State University Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2019;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey, 2023–24;IPEDS Student Financial Aid survey, 2023–24;Wayne State University Common Data Set 2025–26, Class of 2025;IPEDS Graduation Rates survey (Pell Grant and subsidized loan recipients), Entered fall 2018About the data(retrieved 2026-10-12)