Western Kentucky University Outcomes

Western Kentucky University has 80 programs with reported graduate earnings. The highest is Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (master's), where graduates earn a median $112,455 four years after finishing, against $120,338 for the same field nationally.

Verified data· CollegesRef archive

54%

Graduation rate

First-time, full-time students finishing within 150% of normal time

73%

First-year retention

Students who return for a second year

Quick facts

Admit rate: 98%
Avg. net price: $12,395
Graduation: 54%
Students: 14,729

Compare

View as Markdown

Ask ChatGPT Ask Claude

Western Kentucky University graduate earnings by major

Source: U.S. College Scorecard, field of study, 2025

Median earnings of graduates who received federal aid, one and four years after finishing, and the median federal loan debt they borrowed at Western Kentucky University. The field median is the middle value for the same field and credential across every college that reports it. 115 more programs have too few graduates for earnings to be published.

Largest program: Business Administration, Management and Operations; 222 graduates · $59,362 median earnings
Above the national median: 12 of 80 programs; Graduate earnings compared with the same field and credential at other colleges
Lowest debt for the pay: Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing; Median debt is 18% of a year's earnings

Highest-earning programs

Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (master's): $112,455; Field median $120,338
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (doctoral): $112,179; Field median $135,401
Mechanical Engineering (bachelor's): $86,624; Field median $91,285
Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians (bachelor's): $86,033; Field median $81,562
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering (bachelor's): $85,772; Field median $98,953
Finance and Financial Management Services (certificate): $85,634; Field median $77,029
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions (doctoral): $84,680; Field median $82,633
Educational Administration and Supervision (doctoral): $81,091; Field median $96,457

Median earnings four years after finishing, or one year where four is not reported.

Bachelor's programs

Bachelor's programs: graduates, median earnings 1 and 4 years after finishing, national median earnings for the field, and median federal debt
Program	Graduates	Earnings 1 yr	Earnings 4 yr	Field median	Median debt
Mechanical Engineering	44	$68,191	$86,624	$91,2855% below	$20,100
Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians	38	$71,975	$86,033	$81,5625% above	$17,499
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering	23	N/A	$85,772	$98,95313% below	N/A
Civil Engineering	28	$65,983	$75,732	$85,11511% below	$22,672
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods	Not available	$53,524	$74,452	$87,11915% below	N/A
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	146	$73,223	$73,496	$86,02015% below	$21,130
Computer and Information Sciences, General	50	$56,335	$73,300	$85,00014% below	$15,855
Accounting and Related Services	56	$53,267	$71,274	$73,0542% below	$18,000
Architectural Sciences and Technology	24	$52,179	$71,240	$69,1083% above	$19,389
Finance and Financial Management Services	69	$51,468	$70,313	$77,3129% below	$17,781
Management Information Systems and Services	Not available	$55,206	$68,333	$81,42416% below	N/A
Economics	19	$52,320	$68,051	$79,31014% below	N/A
Construction Management	36	$66,806	N/A	$74,82111% below	$24,250
International Relations and National Security Studies	15	N/A	$64,710	$66,1222% below	N/A
Computer Science	29	$62,782	N/A	$73,88315% below	N/A
Marketing	108	$46,304	$60,222	$66,5429% below	$18,742
Health and Medical Administrative Services	67	$42,077	$60,103	$58,5183% above	$20,750
Business Administration, Management and Operations	222	$48,092	$59,362	$64,5908% below	$17,750
Dental Support Services and Allied Professions	31	$52,750	$57,958	$68,58315% below	$14,736
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	34	N/A	$57,844	$58,4911% below	$19,500
Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General	61	$38,274	$57,271	$59,8814% below	$17,750
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness	116	$41,365	$54,396	$53,0243% above	$18,000
Political Science and Government	47	$34,809	$54,333	$61,61312% below	$20,500
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	25	N/A	$53,921	$56,0474% below	$14,037
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication	67	$42,209	$53,839	$62,02713% below	$21,500
Biology, General	94	$38,895	$52,487	$57,5589% below	$21,500
Agriculture, General	54	$41,883	$51,065	$52,6763% below	$20,500
Hospitality Administration/Management	27	$33,850	$50,712	$55,8569% below	$18,250
Communication and Media Studies	26	$32,100	$50,392	$53,8256% below	$18,371
Social Work	89	$36,862	$48,771	$51,8596% below	$23,251
Journalism	50	$39,993	$47,661	$54,37812% below	$21,393
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities	137	$37,122	$46,583	$52,02010% below	$21,250
Fine and Studio Arts	52	$31,282	$45,957	$41,55011% above	$21,500
Apparel and Textiles	47	$41,480	$45,420	$58,51622% below	$22,127
Criminology	118	$37,516	$45,124	$56,22420% below	$20,500
Psychology, General	145	$35,658	$44,848	$50,06610% below	$22,375
Chemistry	15	$44,752	N/A	$48,3607% below	N/A
Public Health	15	N/A	$43,605	$57,39824% below	$19,500
Sociology	45	$37,641	$43,520	$52,10516% below	$22,633
East Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	10	N/A	$43,210	$52,01117% below	N/A
Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Facilities Management	13	N/A	$42,600	$49,42414% below	N/A
Radio, Television, and Digital Communication	16	$24,401	$41,791	$48,48414% below	N/A
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	34	$36,351	$40,838	$50,82720% below	$21,500
Special Education and Teaching	13	$38,507	$40,705	$51,25821% below	$23,250
English Language and Literature, General	35	$31,884	$40,616	$48,77317% below	$21,500
Anthropology	20	N/A	$40,415	$45,83312% below	N/A
History	35	$35,319	$38,836	$50,38723% below	$19,692
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	147	$37,645	$38,656	$47,73019% below	$19,645
Mathematics	9	$39,249	$38,434	$70,62846% below	N/A
Music	31	$35,078	$38,377	$43,38712% below	$26,000
Social Sciences, General	10	$36,939	N/A	$43,13114% below	N/A
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft	33	$32,317	$34,987	$40,05313% below	$24,195
Research and Experimental Psychology	37	$34,133	N/A	$39,59714% below	$20,250

Associate programs

Associate programs: graduates, median earnings 1 and 4 years after finishing, national median earnings for the field, and median federal debt
Program	Graduates	Earnings 1 yr	Earnings 4 yr	Field median	Median debt
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	114	$74,271	$75,959	$79,9435% below	$13,561
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities	50	$35,358	$45,877	$42,7747% above	$17,000

Master's programs

Master's programs: graduates, median earnings 1 and 4 years after finishing, national median earnings for the field, and median federal debt
Program	Graduates	Earnings 1 yr	Earnings 4 yr	Field median	Median debt
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	13	$85,662	$112,455	$120,3387% below	$22,378
Accounting and Related Services	8	$61,857	$78,094	$93,22816% below	N/A
Health and Medical Administrative Services	8	N/A	$71,024	$89,92821% below	N/A
Business Administration, Management and Operations	138	$72,265	$69,436	$95,12727% below	$23,009
Public Health	21	$58,836	N/A	$63,9448% below	N/A
Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Facilities Management	33	$50,221	$57,109	$58,4552% below	N/A
Social Work	54	$47,211	$56,628	$62,59710% below	$20,500
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	65	$56,245	$55,249	$65,78616% below	$41,000
Library Science and Administration	30	$49,245	$52,390	$55,9706% below	$12,360
Psychology, General	19	$52,177	N/A	$53,4282% below	N/A
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	20	$51,588	$51,451	$62,45018% below	N/A
Special Education and Teaching	46	$42,250	$51,391	$63,05819% below	$22,954
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	90	$42,230	$49,133	$58,84517% below	$24,890
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology	25	$42,418	$47,567	$65,74428% below	$41,000
Student Counseling and Personnel Services	13	$41,899	N/A	$53,96522% below	N/A

Doctoral programs

Doctoral programs: graduates, median earnings 1 and 4 years after finishing, national median earnings for the field, and median federal debt
Program	Graduates	Earnings 1 yr	Earnings 4 yr	Field median	Median debt
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	Not available	$97,589	$112,179	$135,40117% below	N/A
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions	Not available	$74,354	$84,680	$82,6332% above	$98,500
Educational Administration and Supervision	13	$81,091	N/A	$96,45716% below	N/A

Certificate programs

Certificate programs: graduates, median earnings 1 and 4 years after finishing, national median earnings for the field, and median federal debt
Program	Graduates	Earnings 1 yr	Earnings 4 yr	Field median	Median debt
Finance and Financial Management Services	7	N/A	$85,634	$77,02911% above	N/A
Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences	8	N/A	$76,463	$76,4630% above	N/A
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods	Not available	$50,459	$66,066	$87,20124% below	N/A
Business Administration, Management and Operations	67	N/A	$49,760	$47,1006% above	N/A
Radio, Television, and Digital Communication	14	$45,645	N/A	$36,23126% above	$27,000
Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services	16	$35,569	$38,962	$31,75823% above	$18,457
Health and Medical Administrative Services	13	$38,850	N/A	$34,80212% above	$25,750

Career paths from this college

Careers linked to the programs Western Kentucky University reports, highest national median pay first. Pay and outlook are BLS figures for the whole occupation, not for this college's graduates.

Explore all 482 careers

Bright outlook
Healthcare practitioners
Nurse Anesthetists
Median pay
$236,590
Outlook
Much faster than average
Master's degree
Via Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
- Critical Thinking
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Learning
Management
Chief Executives
Median pay
$213,990
Outlook
As fast as average
Bachelor's degree
Via Public Administration, Business Administration, Management and Operations and 4 more
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Complex Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
Management
Chief Sustainability Officers
Median pay
$213,990
Outlook
As fast as average
Bachelor's degree
Via Public Administration, Business Administration, Management and Operations and 4 more
- Critical Thinking
- Writing
- Active Listening
Bright outlook
Science
Industrial-Organizational Psychologists
Median pay
$193,950
Outlook
Faster than average
Master's degree
Via Psychology, General, Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
Bright outlook
Management
Computer and Information Systems Managers
Median pay
$175,140
Outlook
Much faster than average
Bachelor's degree
Via Computer and Information Sciences, General, Information Science/Studies and 3 more
- Critical Thinking
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
Bright outlook
Science
Physicists
Median pay
$172,250
Outlook
Faster than average
Doctoral or professional degree
Via Physics, Public Health
- Science
- Critical Thinking
- Active Learning