Which Pacific Lutheran University major has the lowest debt?

Teacher Education graduates leave with a median of $19,500 in federal loans, the lowest among 16 Pacific Lutheran University bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Pacific Lutheran University cost?

Tuition and fees are $52,254 a year for all students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $19,589 a year.

How many Pacific Lutheran University programs report graduate pay?

18 bachelor's programs at Pacific Lutheran University report first-year pay, and 16 of them also report federal debt.

Pacific Lutheran University Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Private nonprofit university
Tacoma, WA
2,401 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

18 Pacific Lutheran University bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($81,761), and Music the least ($17,711). The median program pays $36,042.

Tuition and fees$52,254Per year, for all students

Average net price after aid$19,589Per year

Graduation rate69%Within 6 years

Admission rate78%Of applicants

All 18 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Washington" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across Washington. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in Washington
1	NursingAbout 132 graduates a year	$81,761	$86,344	$29,000	11th of 15
2	Computer and Information ScienceGraduates a year not reported	$78,055	$105,430	$23,534	1st of 6
3	Subject-Area Teacher EducationAbout 8 graduates a year	$57,683	Not reported	$29,740	1st of 5
4	Teacher EducationAbout 15 graduates a year	$57,624	$62,293	$19,500	1st of 14
5	Business AdministrationAbout 70 graduates a year	$52,919	$70,355	$20,959	5th of 18
6	ChemistryAbout 14 graduates a year	$44,555	Not reported	$23,000	3rd of 4
7	EconomicsAbout 14 graduates a year	$43,806	Not reported	Not reported	8th of 11
8	Political ScienceAbout 15 graduates a year	$41,518	Not reported	$20,250	2nd of 12
9	BiologyAbout 43 graduates a year	$36,766	$49,616	$22,626	3rd of 12
10	SociologyAbout 18 graduates a year	$35,317	$58,698	$21,000	4th of 8
11	CommunicationsAbout 23 graduates a year	$33,970	$59,869	$25,499	9th of 11
12	Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 41 graduates a year	$33,449	$61,136	$25,536	2nd of 7
13	PsychologyAbout 41 graduates a year	$30,757	$52,603	$22,500	11th of 14
14	Other Interdisciplinary StudiesAbout 5 graduates a year	$30,142	$45,541	$20,500	1st of 3
15	TheatreAbout 16 graduates a year	$25,754	Not reported	$24,125	1st of 5
16	Romance LanguagesAbout 13 graduates a year	$24,773	Not reported	Not reported	7th of 7
17	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 11 graduates a year	$23,766	$27,811	$25,000	5th of 6
18	MusicAbout 18 graduates a year	$17,711	$39,968	$26,815	5th of 6

Program names link to the program's own page, and Washington ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five Washington programs in the field do too.

Some nursing bachelor's programs are for nurses who are already licensed and working (RN-to-BSN). College Scorecard counts them with programs for new students, and their graduates' pay reflects years of nursing experience, so high pay at a program here may not mean higher starting pay for a new nurse.

2 more bachelor's programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Nursing$81,761
Computer and Information Science$78,055
Subject-Area Teacher Education$57,683
Teacher Education$57,624
Business Administration$52,919

Lowest median debt

Teacher Education$19,500
Political Science$20,250
Other Interdisciplinary Studies$20,500
Business Administration$20,959
Sociology$21,000

Largest programs

NursingAbout 132 graduates a year
Business AdministrationAbout 70 graduates a year
BiologyAbout 43 graduates a year
Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 41 graduates a year
PsychologyAbout 41 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $81,761 in their first year, the most of 18 Pacific Lutheran University bachelor's programs that report pay.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Washington rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels