College graduates in Michigan overestimate starting salaries

The class of 2024 graduated over a month ago, and many of them are now looking for a job. However, a recent survey by college website Authority.org shows that college graduates overestimate their starting salary. In nearly half of states, graduates are earning above-average salaries.

The survey was conducted on LinkedIn among 5,000 college graduates and included one question: “What salary do you expect after you graduate?”

About 100 graduates responded from each state, and the data was compiled into a map for comparison.

According to the map, the national average salary is expected to be $73,400. But according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the current median salary in the country was actually $59,000 by 2024.

Graduates in Michigan can expect a starting salary of about $75,000, but the current median salary in the state is $68,000, a gap of about 10%.

Despite this, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) reports that salaries for the class of 2024 are expected to increase by 3.1%, but hiring has declined by 2%. Despite this slight decline, NACE surveys show that employers plan to increase or maintain their hiring rates for college graduates, and these employers have said the job market for these graduates is either good or excellent.

This is being seen at some staffing agencies in Michigan. Star Staffing Alpena said that while they have not seen any change in the number of college students, they have seen rising wages and rapid hiring of college students.

“In today’s economy, paying competitive wages has never been more important to the success and growth of a company,” said Pamela Richardson, president and CEO of Star Staffing Alpena, in an email. “We have had numerous direct-hire opportunities for students with advanced degrees and have been able to place them in new careers within a week or two.”

While it’s not a big problem for graduates to get hired and receive competitive pay, some feel trapped in their careers. Patrick Bouman is a 2023 graduate of Central Michigan University and currently lives in Montana. Although he used to be a daily reporter at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, he said the job began to burn him out.

“I love writing,” Bouman said. “But when you’re struggling with extremely tight deadlines every day, something changes, and that means projects often get put on the back burner.”

Bouman said he gets paid $20 an hour at the newspaper, which is “industry standard” considering he lives in an area with a high cost of living. Despite the salary and benefits, he feels it’s not the right fit for him.

Now he works in a bakery. He said that with hourly wages and tips, he earns as much as he did at the newspaper – if not more.

“I get up at 1 a.m. and bake bread,” he said. “I was kind of looking for a way out of the newspaper and found a job opening on the bread team at a bakery in town that I really like. Now I get to roll out dough… It’s pretty cool.”

Bouman said his experiences in college and the skills he learned there are applicable in other areas of life and said other college students should appreciate the experience as well. He said graduates should pursue the career that makes them happy.

“You don’t have to feel like you have to stay in a job for 50 years just because you studied it,” he said. “The skills you learned will probably be useful to you in many fields.”

This story was produced by the Michigan News Group Internship Program, a collaboration between WCMU Public Media and local newspapers in central and northern Michigan. The program’s goal is to train the next generation of journalists and combat the creation of news deserts in rural areas.