Bachelor's · Bellingham, Washington

Is Electrical and Computer Engineering at Western Washington 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 fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 2.2 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $94,576; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: Not enough graduates to report; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $21,917; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $85k (likely $85k – $115k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $55k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in WA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 2.2 years (likely 1.7–3.1); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $251k (likely $101k – $407k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $833k (likely $533k – $1.16M); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 61%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26