Michigan·Business and Financial Operations Occupations·SOC 13-2053

Best Insurance Underwriter programs in Michigan, ranked by enrollment

Review individual applications for insurance to evaluate degree of risk involved and determine acceptance of.

13 schools in Michigan run programs that feed this job, graduating 95 people a year. The job pays a median of $77,380 in Michigan across about 2,590 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledUnderwriterLife UnderwriterAccount UnderwriterPersonal Lines UnderwriterBond UnderwriterInsurance WriterField UnderwriterInsurance Analyst
Graduates / yr
95
in Michigan
Median pay · Michigan
$77,380
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
2,590
people employed
Schools
13
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
55%
across those schools
Median net price
$22,391
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Michigan that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

2 programs in Michigan that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Michigan (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Michigan page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 52.1304In Michigan
59
62.1%
11$62,069$23,500
2
Insurancemain feeder
CIP 52.1701In Michigan
36
37.9%
4$56,988$22,500

Top 13 schools in Michigan

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 of the 13 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI Public · 1 feeder programs
21Actuarial Science$69,44381%85%
2The University of Olivet
Olivet, MI Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
17Insurance$56,02735%$21,94683%
3Ferris State University
Big Rapids, MI Public · 2 feeder programs
12Insurance47%91%
4Oakland University
Rochester Hills, MI Public · 1 feeder programs
9Actuarial Science$69,44658%88%
5Lansing Community College
Lansing, MI Public · 1 feeder programs
8Insurance25%
6Central Michigan University
Mount Pleasant, MI Public · 1 feeder programs
6Actuarial Science$66,14959%90%
7Albion College
Albion, MI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
4Actuarial Science62%$16,53781%
8University of Michigan - Dearborn
Dearborn, MI Public · 1 feeder programs
4Actuarial Science$61,29758%56%
9University of Michigan - Flint
Flint, MI Public · 1 feeder programs
4Actuarial Science40%70%
10Calvin University
Grand Rapids, MI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
3Actuarial Science74%$22,39171%
11Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, MI Public · 1 feeder programs
3Actuarial Science46%80%
12Northwood University
Midland, MI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
3Insurance63%$24,98665%
13Michigan Technological University
Houghton, MI Public · 1 feeder programs
1Actuarial Science68%92%

All 13 schools in Michigan

Every school in Michigan with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Michigan that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Michigan State UniversityEast LansingPublic211
The University of OlivetOlivetPrivate not-for-profit172
Ferris State UniversityBig RapidsPublic122
Oakland UniversityRochester HillsPublic91
Lansing Community CollegeLansingPublic81
Central Michigan UniversityMount PleasantPublic61
Albion CollegeAlbionPrivate not-for-profit41
University of Michigan - DearbornDearbornPublic41
University of Michigan - FlintFlintPublic41
Calvin UniversityGrand RapidsPrivate not-for-profit31
Eastern Michigan UniversityYpsilantiPublic31
Northwood UniversityMidlandPrivate not-for-profit31
Michigan Technological UniversityHoughtonPublic11

What insurance underwriters earn in Michigan

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Michigan
$77,380
Mean annual
$81,620
Jobs in state
2,590
What the range looks like
10th pct$50,960Median$77,38090th pct$123,440
Versus the national median
-4.9%

U.S. median $81,370. Michigan pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.87×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI
$77,750median
30 jobs
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
$80,180median
1,070 jobs
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI
$79,560median
400 jobs
Traverse City, MI
$69,500median
100 jobs
Lansing-East Lansing, MI
$75,140median
480 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-2.6%
Decline
Openings per year
8,200
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-3,300
127,000 → 123,700
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Plus moderate-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Insurance Underwriters page.

How to become a Insurance Underwriter

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

Reading ComprehensionActive ListeningCritical ThinkingWritingSpeakingActive Learning

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Michigan

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 4 majors mapped to Insurance Underwriters4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 52.0215Risk Management
  • 52.0810Financial Risk Management
  • 52.1304Actuarial Science
  • 52.1701Insurance

Common questions

Answers for people weighing insurance underwriters programs in Michigan.

What degree do you need to become an Insurance Underwriter?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Actuarial Science, which awarded 59 degrees in Michigan in 2024-25, 62.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Insurance Underwriter?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods, Insurance. Together they graduate about 95 people a year in Michigan.

How much do insurance underwriters earn in Michigan?+

The median is $77,380 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 4.9% below the U.S. median of $81,370. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for insurance underwriters growing?+

BLS projects a -2.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 8,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Michigan?+

13 institutions in Michigan reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do insurance underwriters work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Underwriter, Life Underwriter, Account Underwriter, Personal Lines Underwriter among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-2053.

Programs in MichiganActuarial ScienceInsurance

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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