Washington State University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Washington State University

Washington State University operates as a public institution located in Pullman, Washington (town: distant), with a total reported enrollment of 21,099 students of which 24,297 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. Washington State University is categorized as “15” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 86.6%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $14,971, with published in-state tuition of $13,391 and a Pell grant recipient share of 27.4%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $19,500, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 61.0%, and the first-year retention rate is 78.3%. Graduates earn a median of $68,905 ten years after enrolling, compared with $53,510 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 975300.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 74.2% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.