National study ranks UDM among top 10% of universities in U.S. for return-on-investment

University of Detroit Mercy ranks No. 455 out of 4,500 colleges and universities nationwide for salary earned over the 40-year length of a career according to research published by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (2022).

The Georgetown study, titled A First Try at ROI: Ranking 4,500 Colleges, provides increased justification for the importance of earning a university degree and how it can lead to a higher quality of life for graduates. Specifically, this study examines the net present value of a college or university by focusing on how much a sum of money in the future is valued today. This metric includes costs, future earnings and the length of time it would take to invest and earn a specific amount of money over a fixed length of time.

Detroit Mercy graduates can expect to earn more than $1.2 million in salary over their 40-year career compared with those who forgo a college education.

In addition to ranking among the top 10% of institutions nationwide for salary earned over a 40-year career, UDM ranked in the top 10.5% of all colleges for the 10-year salary rank. This means that younger graduates can expect to earn higher salaries than their counterparts who do not attend college.

“A college education is an investment today that can have one of the greatest impacts on our state, our economy and our nation,” said Debbie Stieffel, vice president for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs. “Not only does a Detroit Mercy education give graduates a leg-up on earnings over a lifetime, it also prepares them for meaningful lives by providing excellent student-centered undergraduate and graduate education that seeks to integrate the intellectual, spiritual, ethical and social development of its students.”

For current students, this news provides greater incentive to achieve their educational goals and go on to successful careers.

“I look forward to receiving my degree from a university that has constantly proven itself to be among the best,” said Hisham Almadani, a sophomore from West Bloomfield who is majoring in Communication Studies. “Such statistics only push me to work harder and prioritize my academics.”

This news comes on the heels of the latest ranking from The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse, which ranked UDM among the top institutions of higher education in the United States for 2024. The University ranked no. 52 in the country, which makes UDM:

• Michigan’s second highest-ranking university on the list.
• Fourth among Catholic institutions nationally, behind only Georgetown University, Boston College and University of Notre Dame.
• The third-highest ranked Jesuit university and only Mercy institution ranked.

For more information about A First Try at ROI: Ranking 4,500 Colleges, please visit https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/roi2022/.