CMU offers 'guarantee' that students will get jobs or get into grad school

Central Michigan University is pledging that qualified graduates will land a job or get accepted into graduate school within six months
If students don’t achieve those goals, CMU will provide them $2,000 of financial support
Students must follow steps designed to help them succeed

Central Michigan University says it plans to ensure that eligible graduates either get job offers within six months of graduation or get accepted into grad school.

If they don’t land either, CMU is promising $2,000 to assist with payments for student loans, searches for jobs or graduate school or any other needs, in addition to support for career development.

The program is called the Central Career Guarantee. CMU says it’s the first public university in Michigan to offer such a promise.

“At CMU, we know that our approach to hands-on learning, leadership development and student success works,” CMU President Neil MacKinnon said in a statement. “It’s why our students already enjoy a 94.3% career outcomes rate, and why our alumni are leaders in their professions and in their communities,”

“We’re confident that we offer students an exceptional education that delivers real-world results, and now we guarantee it.”

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CMU’s new program sounds “impressive” because it’s challenging those who question the value of a four-year degree, said Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future Inc., a think tank offering new ideas for the state’s success.

“This is innovative,” said Glazer.

CMU’s program builds in things that students should be doing to succeed, he added. Many colleges’ playbooks include the use of “nudges” through texts or other communications, encouraging students to get career counseling or advising on their studies since there’s research showing that can work.

“This is much stronger than a nudge,” Glazer said. “It will be interesting to see in a couple years how it works.”

Students sit at long tables in a college classroom listening to an instructor. — Central Michigan University’s Central Career Guarantee demonstrates CMU’s ‘commitment to ensuring that our students become successful alumni,’ said President Neil MacKinnon. (Courtesy of Central Michigan University)

The program, set to begin in fall 2026, will allow undergraduate students enrolled at the main campus or online to opt in. They will be required to take steps during each phase of the program, including career coaching, meetings with academic advisers and participating in career development activities and university events.

It is designed to engage students and give them the tools, resources and encouragement so they stay on track to graduate, MacKinnon said.

“Our mission statement says, ‘Central Michigan University is defined by the success of our students and alumni, and by our collective impact with the communities we serve,’” MacKinnon said. “This Guarantee is an extension of that mission, demonstrating our commitment to ensuring that our students become successful alumni, serving as leaders in their professions and in their communities.”

At least one private Michigan institution, Davenport University, whose main campus is in Grand Rapids, offers an employment guarantee to students earning degrees in certain majors. Students who meet the requirements of the program and don’t land a job in their field within six months of graduation can get up to 48 free credit hours of undergraduate, graduate or Institute for Professional Excellence study. According to the university, that benefit is worth as much as $48,864 based on 2024-2025 tuition rates.

Other schools, including Eastern Michigan University and Rochester Christian University in Rochester Hills, offer some graduates help repaying student loans if their earnings fall below a certain threshold.

CMU offers ‘guarantee’ that students will get jobs or get into grad school

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