Education Atlas

College Scorecard · cost, debt & earnings

Eastern Washington University

Cheney, WA · Public · Bachelor-granting · 6,222 undergrads · 91% admitted

Weigh this carefully before borrowing

Only 43% of students here finish, and the loans are owed whether or not you graduate (students who withdrew here carry a median of $9,653 in federal debt). Compare the cost and completion against a community college or in-state public university before you sign.

Do students finish?
43% complete

A large share of students do not finish; the cost is the same whether or not you graduate.

What does it cost?
$24,478/yr net

Average annual price after grants & scholarships. ~$97,912 over four years if you finish on time.

What former students go on to earn

The middle 50% of students who received federal aid, measured 10 years after they entered (an earlier entering class — not a guarantee, and not limited to those who graduated). Earnings vary enormously by field of study.

$57,897 median, 10 yrs after entry
25th pct $36,589 median $57,897 75th pct $80,559

74% earn more than a typical high-school graduate (the dashed line above, $28,000 — a fixed, somewhat dated federal benchmark) ten years on.

Your major matters more than your school

The school-wide figure above blends every major together — but pay varies enormously by program. Pick a degree level (and search your major) to compare like-for-like.

Read these on their own terms. Program pay is measured 1 year after completing the program (early career, graduates only) — not the same as the school-wide number above, which is 10 years after a student first enrolled. Don't compare a program figure to the school figure; use the programs to compare majors to each other.

35 Bachelor's programs · $17,056 to $63,361 (1 yr out)

MajorPay · 1yr outMedian debt
Dental Support Services and Allied Professions.Bachelor's $63,361 $23,604
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering.Bachelor's $62,738 $25,116
Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians, Other.Bachelor's $59,875
Computer and Information Sciences, General.Bachelor's $59,357 $21,500
Mechanical Engineering.Bachelor's $56,780 $21,750
Accounting and Related Services.Bachelor's $49,862 $16,200
Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences.Bachelor's $43,280
Management Information Systems and Services.Bachelor's $41,675 $15,802
Special Education and Teaching.Bachelor's $41,502 $23,000
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods.Bachelor's $41,387 $18,994
Finance and Financial Management Services.Bachelor's $40,949 $15,298
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions.Bachelor's $40,810 $22,715
Business Administration, Management and Operations.Bachelor's $39,839 $19,003
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas.Bachelor's $39,822 $20,344
Economics.Bachelor's $39,218 $18,756
Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies, General.Bachelor's $35,667 $19,534
Marketing.Bachelor's $35,280 $21,500
Social Work.Bachelor's $33,868 $15,768
Health and Medical Administrative Services.Bachelor's $33,830
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics.Bachelor's $33,618 $18,768
Sociology.Bachelor's $32,580
Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Facilities Management.Bachelor's $32,571 $20,134
Natural Resources Conservation and Research.Bachelor's $32,179
Communication and Media Studies.Bachelor's $32,026 $20,519
Criminology.Bachelor's $31,680 $17,500
Psychology, General.Bachelor's $31,677 $16,500
Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services.Bachelor's $29,965 $17,889
Biology, General.Bachelor's $29,633 $17,817
International Relations and National Security Studies.Bachelor's $28,843
Research and Experimental Psychology.Bachelor's $28,605 $19,134
Political Science and Government.Bachelor's $26,619 $15,513
Computer Software and Media Applications.Bachelor's $25,949 $20,296
Physiology, Pathology and Related Sciences.Bachelor's $25,717 $20,507
English Language and Literature, General.Bachelor's $21,921 $15,835
Film/Video and Photographic Arts.Bachelor's $17,056

The Dept. of Education omits programs with too few graduates (to protect privacy), so not every major appears. Pay is a median for federally-aided graduates. Full program detail on the official Scorecard.

Typical federal loan debt
$14,053
24% of one year's typical earnings here

This counts federal student loans only — not private loans, Parent PLUS loans, or family savings, so the true cost of borrowing is usually higher. And because students who drop out borrow less, a school where many students don't finish can show a deceptively low debt figure — read it next to the completion rate above.

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is an institution-wide median from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. It is not a prediction of what you would earn or owe — a computer-science and a fine-arts graduate of the same school can earn wildly different amounts, and your field of study matters more than your school. It is not a figure for any one program, not proof the school caused the outcome (selective schools admit students who would earn more anyway), and not a "best college" ranking. Earnings and debt cover federally-aided students.

→ The number that actually answers "worth it" is earnings by major — see the by-major breakdown above (45 programs at this school).

Also available: structured data (JSON-LD) · plain text · JSON. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (2026-06-10 release). · school website