Median Annual Wages by Educational Attainment shows median annual wages for students one and five years after completing their highest level of education. The report also shows the number of employed completers whose wages are being summarized. The report can be compared by report year, currently 2018 and 2019. The download data file in the link below the graph will provide both ISD and IHE location data.

The data help us understand the relationship between education and wages as students move into the Michigan workforce.

Exploring the Median Annual Wages by Educational Attainment report can answer questions like:

How do median annual wages differ by education levels?

 Observe the difference between the median wage across the educational attainment levels from no high school diploma to master’s or higher degree. 

How have median annual wages changed between report publishing years?

Compare the median wages of educational attainment levels between available publication years.

To calculate Median Annual Wages by Educational Attainment, 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 or postsecondary education at schools that report to CEPI and had wages that were reported to the Unemployment Insurance Agency. Students may have earned their college certificate or degree from an out-of-state college or university reported to the National Student Clearinghouse. 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 highest level of education in 2016-17 and are no longer enrolled make up the base population for the 2019 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 2018 Median Wages After 5 Years. Students will only be counted once per cohort. 

Median wages are calculated by educational attainment ranging from students who did not complete their high school diploma 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. 

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 educational attainment.

Wages After 5 Years: Wages calculated twenty quarters (or five years) after the date of educational attainment.

Educational Attainment: The highest level of education completed (defined here as no high school diploma, high school diploma, certificate, associate degree, bachelor’s degree, and master’s or higher degree).

Number Employed: The number of former students whose wages were used in the median annual wage calculation.

Data Collection

The Center for Educational Performance and Information, National Student Clearinghouse and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity-Workforce Development 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 Unemployment Insurance Agency.