ROI Major

Business Administration and Management at City Colleges of Chicago - Wilbur Wright College

IL · Associate's Degree · CIP 52.02

Apply Now Data: 2026 release

Executive Summary

Graduates with a Business Administration and Management degree from City Colleges of Chicago - Wilbur Wright College earn a median salary of $62,075 within five years of graduation. Adjusted for the cost of living in IL, this represents a national purchasing power equivalent of $67,620. The degree typically pays for itself in 8.2 years.

Quick Insights

Slow Burn / High Debt Risk

How this degree looks at a glance

A fast read on salary range, break-even speed, living-cost impact, and where graduates from this school usually land.

Salary Ranges

Starting Range

$44,398

Typical Career

$62,075

Top Performers

$76,015

Estimated break-even: 8.2 years.

Debt-to-Income Check

$414

Estimated comfortable monthly loan payment

Typical monthly pay is approximately $5,173. Most students can comfortably afford about a $414 monthly loan payment with this degree.

Comparison Bench

This degree earns 1.6x more than the average US high school graduate and 0.8x more than the average college graduate.

Purchasing Power Context

A dollar in Illinois buys what costs $0.92 nationally.

Industry Breadcrumbs

Top industries for bachelor's graduates from this school: Health Care & Social Assistance, Retail Trade, Educational Services.

Where Associate's Graduates from This School Work

Health Care & Social Assistance 30.1%
Retail Trade 9.0%
Educational Services 8.9%

Institution-wide industry mix for graduates, 5 years after graduation. This is not major-specific. Source: Census PSEO Flows.

5-Year Median Salary — National Purchasing Power Equivalent

$67,620

Nominal: $62,075 in Illinois (COL 91.8% of national avg) · 8.9% higher purchasing power

10-Year Earnings Curve

Break-Even Timeline

How long until cumulative earnings advantage exceeds total college investment (tuition + opportunity cost vs. entering workforce directly after high school).

8.2 years to break even
Graduation 15 years

Total Investment

$155,168

4yr tuition + 4yr opportunity cost

HS Graduate Baseline

$38,792/yr

BLS 2023 median, HS diploma

View Raw Data: Median Earnings by Year
Timeframe 25th Pct. Median (50th) 75th Pct.
1 Year After Graduation $30,099 $41,424 $58,150
5 Years After Graduation $44,398 $62,075 $76,015
10 Years After Graduation $60,961 $73,347 $102,062

Source: US Census Bureau Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO), 2025 release. Earnings shown for Bachelor's degree graduates (all cohorts combined).

How We Calculate Purchasing Power

The median salary of $62,075 is reported by the US Census Bureau's Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) dataset for graduates working in IL, which has a cost-of-living index of 91.8% of the national average.

Formula: Adjusted Salary = Nominal × (1.0 ÷ COL Index)
= $62,075 × (1.0 ÷ 0.9180) = $67,620 National Average equivalent.

COL index source: BLS Regional Consumer Price Index & MIT Living Wage Project, 2023. Full methodology →

Career Verdict

Graduates of the Business Administration and Management program at City Colleges of Chicago - Wilbur Wright College experience a positive earnings trajectory over time. Median earnings one year after graduation stand at $41,424, increasing to $62,075 five years post-graduation and reaching $73,347 after ten years. When adjusted for purchasing power, the five-year salary equivalent nationally is approximately $67,619.83, indicating that graduates maintain a competitive earning potential relative to the national average despite the cost of living index in Illinois being slightly lower than the national average.

The program's graduates predominantly enter the Health Care & Social Assistance sectors, with 59.8% employed in this field shortly after graduation. This trend continues with substantial percentages remaining in the same industry five and ten years later, at 38.7% and 30.1%, respectively. Given the estimated break-even point of approximately 8.2 years compared to a high-school-only path, the return on investment for pursuing this degree appears favorable, particularly for those entering growing industries such as health care.

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Data sources: US Census Bureau Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO). Cost-of-living index: BLS Regional CPI & MIT Living Wage Project. Cost of attendance: IPEDS. For informational use only; data may be suppressed for small cohort sizes.