University of Michigan-Dearborn

Public · Moderately Selective · MI

Photo: MichiganCharms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePublic

LocationMI · Midwest

SettingUrban

Undergrads5,952

Student:faculty16:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate32.6%

6-yr grad rate58%

Drop-out rate17.5%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$16k

Out-of-state tuition$33k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity36.6%

Gender diversity48%

International3.9%

Identity—

Overview

University of Michigan-Dearborn is a regional campus of the University of Michigan system serving the western Detroit metro area, distinct from the Ann Arbor flagship but conferring the same University of Michigan degree. It is a smaller, primarily commuter campus built around access for metro Detroit students, many of whom work while attending.

Academics

Engineering is the clearest strength, with deep, decades-long ties to the automotive industry — co-ops and sponsored projects with Ford, whose world headquarters sits nearby, and other manufacturers are a defining feature of the curriculum. Business and computer science also draw strong local enrollment, and class sizes tend to be noticeably smaller than at the Ann Arbor campus.

Campus & student life

The campus sits on a wooded, largely self-contained property in Dearborn, but the commuter character of the student body means evening and weekend life on campus is quieter than at a traditional residential college. Most social life happens off campus in metro Detroit rather than through dorm culture.

Getting in

Admission is generally less selective than the Ann Arbor campus, with a straightforward, transcript-and-test-driven process aimed at strong regional students, including many transfers from Michigan community colleges.

After graduation

Graduates lean heavily into metro Detroit's engineering, automotive, and manufacturing employers, with Ford, other automakers, and their supplier networks recruiting directly from the engineering programs. The Michigan degree carries real weight with regional employers even though the campus itself is smaller than the flagship.

Worth knowing

Students should understand this is a genuinely separate campus from Ann Arbor — different admissions, different campus culture, no shared dorms or main-campus social life — even though the diploma says University of Michigan.

umdearborn.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate55.6%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 990–1255 · ACT 24–28

Test policyoptional

Rec letters—

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying