Western Washington University

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

Western Washington University operates as a public institution located in Bellingham, Washington (city: small), with a total reported enrollment of 13,544 students of which 15,031 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 Washington 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 93.3%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,289 and an ACT midpoint of 26. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $21,193, with published in-state tuition of $9,582 and a Pell grant recipient share of 20.9%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $18,500, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 65.1%, and the first-year retention rate is 79.4%. Graduates earn a median of $62,569 ten years after enrolling, compared with $45,272 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 496400.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 65.1% 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.