Which Western Illinois University major has the lowest debt?

Agriculture graduates leave with a median of $18,969 in federal loans, the lowest among 28 Western Illinois University bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Western Illinois University cost?

Tuition and fees are $15,264 a year for all students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $12,937 a year.

How many Western Illinois University programs report graduate pay?

30 bachelor's programs at Western Illinois University report first-year pay, and 28 of them also report federal debt.

Western Illinois University Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Public university
Macomb, IL
4,410 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

30 Western Illinois University bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($74,490), and Fine and Studio Arts the least ($26,196). The median program pays $40,119.

Tuition and fees$15,264Per year, for all students

Average net price after aid$12,937Per year

Graduation rate45%Within 6 years

Admission rate71%Of applicants

All 30 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Illinois" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across Illinois. 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 Illinois
1	NursingAbout 29 graduates a year	$74,490	$80,342	$23,750	13th of 32
2	Construction ManagementAbout 12 graduates a year	$70,789	$84,868	$26,000	1st of 2
3	EngineeringAbout 1 graduates a year	$66,112	Not reported	Not reported	2nd of 2
4	Engineering TechnologyAbout 19 graduates a year	$64,762	$76,965	$32,373	1st of 3
5	Computer and Information ScienceAbout 26 graduates a year	$62,578	$73,734	$25,250	4th of 12
6	AccountingAbout 27 graduates a year	$49,900	$65,058	$30,023	22nd of 28
7	AgricultureAbout 79 graduates a year	$48,509	$58,204	$18,969	1st of 3
8	Human ResourcesAbout 15 graduates a year	$47,467	$48,657	$26,000	8th of 8
9	Special EducationAbout 3 graduates a year	$46,729	$48,274	$25,986	4th of 10
10	Business AdministrationAbout 48 graduates a year	$45,137	$61,543	$27,000	21st of 38
11	Subject-Area Teacher EducationAbout 8 graduates a year	$44,376	$51,486	Not reported	13th of 21
12	Fire ScienceAbout 14 graduates a year	$41,432	Not reported	$22,723	2nd of 2
13	Criminal JusticeAbout 197 graduates a year	$40,898	$65,120	$26,000	9th of 22
14	Teacher EducationAbout 45 graduates a year	$40,544	$44,479	$25,133	32nd of 38
15	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 9 graduates a year	$40,261	$47,471	$39,688	10th of 10
16	MarketingAbout 20 graduates a year	$39,977	$66,612	$29,592	19th of 22
17	Social WorkAbout 31 graduates a year	$39,641	$47,489	$29,850	3rd of 13
18	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 120 graduates a year	$38,196	$48,040	$28,750	8th of 11
19	Linguistics and Language StudiesAbout 9 graduates a year	$37,155	Not reported	$29,875	1st of 3
20	CommunicationsAbout 37 graduates a year	$34,142	$51,354	$30,000	16th of 26
21	BiologyAbout 42 graduates a year	$34,052	$50,891	$27,585	9th of 27
22	MusicAbout 19 graduates a year	$32,666	$46,354	$30,000	6th of 13
23	Political ScienceAbout 16 graduates a year	$32,359	$41,581	$25,000	12th of 20
24	ChemistryAbout 12 graduates a year	$31,980	$71,894	$27,000	4th of 4
25	EnglishAbout 19 graduates a year	$30,652	$35,909	$23,750	14th of 18
26	PsychologyAbout 58 graduates a year	$30,471	$46,568	$29,000	28th of 35
27	Recreation ManagementAbout 23 graduates a year	$28,978	$41,189	$29,000	3rd of 3
28	Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 25 graduates a year	$28,315	$59,683	$31,000	18th of 19
29	Radio, TV, and Digital MediaGraduates a year not reported	$27,462	$45,151	$29,054	4th of 8
30	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 17 graduates a year	$26,196	$43,046	$27,000	9th of 15

Program names link to the program's own page, and Illinois 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 Illinois 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.

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

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Nursing$74,490
Construction Management$70,789
Engineering$66,112
Engineering Technology$64,762
Computer and Information Science$62,578

Lowest median debt

Agriculture$18,969
Fire Science$22,723
Nursing$23,750
English$23,750
Political Science$25,000

Largest programs

Criminal JusticeAbout 197 graduates a year
Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 120 graduates a year
AgricultureAbout 79 graduates a year
PsychologyAbout 58 graduates a year
Business AdministrationAbout 48 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $74,490 in their first year, the most of 30 Western Illinois 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 Illinois 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