Western Illinois University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Western Illinois University

Western Illinois University operates as a public institution located in Macomb, Illinois (town: remote), with a total reported enrollment of 4,410 students of which 5,706 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. Western Illinois University is categorized as “18” 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 71.2%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $12,937, with published in-state tuition of $15,264 and a Pell grant recipient share of 28.1%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $25,251, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 45.0%, and the first-year retention rate is 61.4%. Graduates earn a median of $54,163 ten years after enrolling, compared with $43,057 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 570700.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 69.0% 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.