Bachelor's · Bowling Green, Kentucky

Is Sociology at Western Kentucky University worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back slowly: graduates typically recover the cost in about 7.3 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $40,431; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $46,746; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $22,633; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $50k (likely $50k – $62k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $10k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in KY; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 7.3 years (likely 4.9–12.4); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$112k (likely −$183k – −$50k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $31k (likely −$99k – $174k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 56%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26