Western Washington University Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Design and Applied Arts
- Public university
- Bellingham, WA
- About 57 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Western Washington University design and applied arts graduates earn about what design and applied arts graduates earn nationally, $31,078 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $20,000 in federal loans, less than at 89% of design and applied arts programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying design and applied arts degrees in Washington.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Washington and national columns are the medians across all design and applied arts bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Western Washington University graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the Washington median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Washington design and applied arts program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Washington medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 107% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned more in their first year than other graduates. They also borrowed less. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $212 a month, or 8.2% 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
78% of graduates (57 of 73) were working in Washington one year after graduating. Prices in the Bellingham area are about 3% above the national average, so a $31,078 salary here buys what about $30,075 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 design and applied arts, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Graphic Designers
$72,710Median pay in Washington. 3,960 people work in this job in Washington. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 16,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Web and Digital Interface Designers
$130,480Median pay in Washington. 11,580 people work in this job in Washington. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Interior Designers
$76,570Median pay in Washington. 1,330 people work in this job in Washington. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Art Directors
$121,170Median pay in Washington. 650 people work in this job in Washington. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
About Western Washington University
Design and Applied Arts ranks 34th of 52 bachelor's programs at Western Washington University by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($80,808), Electrical Engineering ($77,516), and Information Technology ($72,675).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $31,078 one year after graduating and $64,470 five years after. The median across design and applied arts bachelor's programs in Washington is $39,248.
The median federal loan balance is $20,000, which ranks 2nd lowest of 7 design and applied arts bachelor's programs in Washington. That works out to about $212 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 64% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 77%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 20% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Washington programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 78% (57 of 73) were working in Washington one year after graduating.
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 Washington 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 design and applied arts 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