WashU Computer Science (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Computer Science
- Private nonprofit university
- St. Louis, MO
- About 181 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
WashU computer science graduates earn more than graduates of most computer science programs nationally, $110,302 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $15,500 in federal loans, less than at 89% of computer science programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying computer science degrees in Missouri.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Missouri and national columns are the medians across all computer science bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every Missouri computer science program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Missouri medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned $11,295 less in their first year than other graduates. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $164 a month, or 1.8% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
Prices in the St. Louis area are about 5% below the national average, so a $110,302 salary here buys what about $116,000 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to computer science, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Software Developers
$126,120Median pay in Missouri. 20,020 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 95,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Computer and Information Systems Managers
$159,460Median pay in Missouri. 11,130 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 16% from 2025 to 2035, with about 53,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Data Scientists
$97,090Median pay in Missouri. 4,730 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 35% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Information Security Analysts
$103,440Median pay in Missouri. 3,260 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 21% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
About WashU
Computer Science ranks 1st of 17 bachelor's programs at WashU by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($110,302), Business Economics ($106,701), and Finance ($102,814).
Other computer science bachelor's programs near St. Louis
Common questions
The median graduate earns $110,302 one year after graduating. The median across computer science bachelor's programs in Missouri is $69,544.
The median federal loan balance is $15,500, which ranks the lowest of 7 computer science bachelor's programs in Missouri. That works out to about $164 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 14% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 34%.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- 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 Missouri comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the computer science program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024