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Western Michigan University Data & Information Overview

437 awards Ranking Badges
Great Price Value for Your Money
83% Acceptance Rate
If you want to know more about Western Michigan University, such as what majors does it offer, how diverse it is, how well it ranks, and more, this is your one-stop resource.
Want to dig deeper into a particular stat? Just click on its tile and you’ll be taked to a more in-depth page on the figure. In addition, you can use the links below to quickly jump to any section on this page.

How Well Is Western Michigan University Ranked?

#335 Best Colleges in Nation
#5 Best Colleges in MI
Other Marketing Highest Ranked Major

2024 Rankings

College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.

Western Michigan University was awarded 437 badges in the 2024 rankings. The highest ranked major at the school is other marketing.

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Overall Quality

WMU is ranked #335 out of 2,217 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual's 2024 Best Colleges list.

WMU also holds the #5 spot on the Best Colleges in Michigan ranking.

See all of the rankings for Western Michigan University.

Is It Hard to Get Into WMU?

83% Acceptance Rate
57% Of Accepted Are Women
37% Submit SAT Scores

Acceptance Rate

When it comes to admittance, Western Michigan University is somewhat selective. Its acceptance rate is 83%, which means you'll face some strong competition during the admissions process. Do what you can to make your application stand out.

Average Test Scores

About 37% of students accepted to WMU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 510 and 620. Math scores were between 490 and 600.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for Western Michigan University  ( 510 to 620 )
200
800

SAT Math Scores for Western Michigan University  ( 490 to 600 )
200
800
WMU received ACT scores from 7% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 21 and 27.

ACT Composite Scores for Western Michigan University  ( 21 to 27 )
1
36

Learn more about Western Michigan University admissions.

Western Michigan University Faculty

16 to 1 Student to Faculty
69% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

The student to faculty ratio at Western Michigan University is about average at 16 to 1. This ratio is often used to gauge how many students might be in an average class and how much time professors will have to spend with their students on an individual level. The national average for this metric is 15 to 1.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.

The full-time faculty percentage at Western Michigan University is 69%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  69 out of 100
0
100

Retention and Graduation Rates at Western Michigan University

77% Freshmen Retention
27% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshmen Retention Rate

Western Michigan University has a freshmen retention rate of 77%. That's a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It's also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.

Freshmen Retention Rate  77 out of 100
0
100

Graduation Rate

The on-time graduation rate is the percent of first-time, full time students who obtain their bachelor's degree in four years or less. This rate is 27% for first-time, full-time students at WMU, which is lower than the national rate of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  27 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Western Michigan University.

Western Michigan University Undergraduate Student Diversity

13,296 Full-Time Undergraduates
23.8% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
49.9% Percent Women

During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 15,969 undergraduates at WMU with 13,296 being full-time and 2,673 being part-time.

How Much Does Western Michigan University Cost?

$20,371 Net Price
51% Take Out Loans
$31,732 Total Student Loans
The overall average net price of WMU is $20,371. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.

Net Price by Income Group for WMU

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$13,112 $15,552 $20,840 $23,726 $25,176

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.Note that the net price is typically less than the published for a school. For more information on the sticker price of WMU, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At WMU, approximately 51% of students took out student loans averaging $7,933 a year. That adds up to $31,732 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at WMU is 5.6%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

Get more details about paying for Western Michigan University.

How Much Money Do WMU Graduates Make?

$49,652 Avg Salary of Grads
High Earnings Boost
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor's degree from WMU make about $49,652 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. That's great news for WMU students since it is 17% more than the average college graduate's salary of $42,485 per year.

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See which majors at Western Michigan University make the most money.

Location of Western Michigan University

Michigan State
13,296 Full-Time Undergraduates
Small City Campus Setting
Located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Western Michigan University is a public institution. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life.

Get more details about the location of Western Michigan University.

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Contact details for WMU are given below.

Contact Details
Address: 1903 W Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5200
Phone: 269-387-1000
Website: https://wmich.edu/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wmich
Twitter: http://twitter.com/wmunews

Western Michigan University Majors

112 Majors With Completions
3,845 Undergraduate Degrees
1,239 Graduate Degrees
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 112 majors graduated from Western Michigan University. Of these students, 3,845 received undergraduate degrees and 1,239 graduated with a master's or doctor's degree. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.

Most Popular Majors Bachelor’s Degrees Average Salary of Graduates
Marketing 222 $46,518
Business Administration & Management 220 $49,945
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies 216 $32,776
Air Transportation 186 $43,255
Finance & Financial Management 166 $44,347
Accounting 146 $43,500
General Biology 130 $30,671
Medical Illustration & Informatics 118 NA
Nursing 118 $62,429
Health & Medical Administrative Services 111 $32,204

Learn more about the majors offered at Western Michigan University along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Online Learning at WMU

72% Take At Least One Class Online
15% Take All Classes Online

Online learning options are becoming more and more popular at American colleges and universities. Online classes are great for students who have busy schedules or for those who just want to study on their own time.

In 2020-2021, 13,186 students took at least one online class at Western Michigan University. This is a decrease from the 18,156 students who took online classes the previous year.

Year Took at Least One Online Class Took All Classes Online
2020-2021 13,186 2,770
2019-2020 18,156 7,025
2018-2019 5,974 1,318
2017-2018 5,652 1,236
2016-2017 5,285 1,180

Learn more about online learning at Western Michigan University.

Notes and References

Footnotes

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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