Western Washington University Finance (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Finance and Financial Management Services
- Public university
- Bellingham, WA
- About 47 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Western Washington University finance graduates earn about what finance graduates earn nationally, $51,984 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $20,610 in federal loans, close to the national median of $23,250. Several Washington programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Washington and national columns are the medians across all finance bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Western Washington University graduates earn less than the national figure and about $7,407 less than the Washington median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Washington finance 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 44% 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 $3,877 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 $219 a month, or 5.1% 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. Separately, 26 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $14,526.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
89% of graduates (62 of 70) were working in Washington one year after graduating. Prices in the Bellingham area are about 3% above the national average, so a $51,984 salary here buys what about $50,307 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 finance, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
General and Operations Managers
$133,750Median pay in Washington. 50,630 people work in this job in Washington. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 285,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Financial Managers
$174,840Median pay in Washington. 12,930 people work in this job in Washington. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 65,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents
$75,510Median pay in Washington. 8,770 people work in this job in Washington. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 35,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Financial and Investment Analysts
$107,210Median pay in Washington. 8,820 people work in this job in Washington. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Western Washington University
Finance ranks 12th 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 $51,984 one year after graduating and $75,026 five years after. The median across finance bachelor's programs in Washington is $55,823.
The median federal loan balance is $20,610, which ranks 4th lowest of 5 finance bachelor's programs in Washington. That works out to about $219 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 40% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 44%, 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.
Most do. 89% (62 of 70) 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 finance 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