College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Central Washington University

WAMedium public institution · Overall rank #339 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

The Azimuth composite score lands Central Washington University in the 77th percentile of nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

Central Washington University is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington, where Business and Education lead the degree mix. Mobility is well above average.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them, and the typical graduate earns above the median at comparable schools. The model attributes the gain to the factors it measures, while the remainder it cannot explain subtracts from it.

Pell recipients complete at a rate above the cohort as a whole, and mobility is well above average. The lowest income band pays well under the published cost, while the highest pays closer to it.

The admission rate is above the median for comparable schools. Most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than further study, and the best-paid programs are not the largest ones.

Central Washington University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
90.6%
Six-year completion[2]
53.6%
Four-year earnings[3]
$63,444

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$16,022
Median student debt[4]
$19,500
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$22,000

Central Washington University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Central Washington University, a public university in Ellensburg, Washington, enrolls 7,833 undergraduates. The university sits above the three-quarter mark among nonprofit four-year institutions (77th percentile).

With an admission rate of 90.6%, Central Washington University accepts a larger share of applicants than the 85.9% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Of students who start full time, 70.0% return for a second year, which sits below the 73.7% peer median.

The six-year graduation rate for that same cohort is 53.6%, above the 49.1% peer median. Because an estimated 37.7% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, that first-time, full-time measure describes a minority of the people who study here.

Mobility is the strongest here, and access is the weakest. Return and affordability fall in between, with mobility standing well apart from the other three. The four pillars are spread across a wide band rather than clustered.

Mobility gives Central Washington University its clearest advantage in Azimuth’s four-part profile. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, mobility stands in the 87th percentile, the university’s strongest pillar.

Affordability is in the 68th percentile, followed by return in the 57th percentile and access in the 54th percentile. Access is the weakest pillar, so the profile is strongest on mobility rather than on entry measures.

Pell Grants go to 28.3% of undergraduates at Central Washington University, the share that frames the access profile. Pell recipients finish at 57.3%, a rate that sits 3.7 percentage points above the figure for the entering cohort as a whole (53.6%).

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, Azimuth ranks the university #680 on access. Azimuth ranks it #189 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $2,017 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that coincides with the university's mobility standing.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

Central Washington University rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#339

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 87
Access & reach
National percentile: 54
Affordability
National percentile: 68
Return on investment
National percentile: 57

Top-ranked majors

  1. Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians#1
  2. Human Services, General#9
  3. Construction Management#11

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / Central Washington University briefing

Central Washington University cost & financial aid[6][7]

Central Washington University presents a mixed cost picture: aid lowers the published price, yet its average price remains above that of comparable schools. The published cost of attendance is $28,816.

In-state tuition and fees are $9,417, out-of-state tuition and fees are $27,526, and room and board are $16,480. Across aid recipients, the average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $18,476.

Financial aid reduces the published cost by $10,340 on average. At comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median net price is $14,068, placing this university $4,408 above it.

Azimuth places affordability in the 68th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The aid discount is sizable, but the average post-aid price remains higher than the peer median.

Central Washington University lists a published cost of attendance of $28,816, but aid-recipient prices vary by family income. The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $11,846 in the lowest family-income band, $13,942 in the lower-middle band, $16,022 in the middle band, $21,682 in the upper-middle band, and $26,719 in the highest band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $14,873. Azimuth ranks the university #454 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For the average aid recipient, aid covers about 36% of the published cost, a savings of $10,340 against the sticker price. Across aid recipients, the is $18,476, which is $4,408 above the peer median of $14,068, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Published in-state tuition is $9,417, compared with $27,526 for out-of-state tuition. Federal student-loan borrowers who complete have median debt of $19,500, which is $1,729 below the $21,229 peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size).

84.1% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $222 a month if repaid over ten years.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing is $22,000.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$16,022

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Central Washington University

Central Washington University's federal borrowing picture is lower than that of comparable institutions, though borrowing is common. Among federal-loan borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $19,500.

Federal loans are held by 84.1% of federal aid recipients. The peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $21,229, placing the university $1,729 below it.

For the separate population of parent borrowers, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $22,000.

At Central Washington University, the investment picture is shaped by earnings that run above the peer median and debt that runs below it. Graduates earn about $2,017 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome at the 62nd percentile.

Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, range from $48,680 in a downside case to $84,047 in an upside case, with $63,444 as the typical scenario. The median four years after completion is $63,444, at the 61st percentile, which is $6,143 above the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $19,500 in federal student loans, $1,729 below the peer median of $21,229. If repaid over ten years, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $222 a month.

Earnings above the peer median and debt below it point the same way for the return picture.

Parent borrowing is separate from student federal borrowing: median Parent PLUS borrowing is $22,000 for parent borrowers. For student borrowers, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $222 a month if repaid over ten years.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$19,500
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$22,000

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$222/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$280/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / Central Washington University briefing

Central Washington University career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

For Central Washington University, the return evidence is moderately favorable across both modeled and reported earnings. Graduates earn about $2,017 more than the model expects for similar students.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, falls in the 62nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth places the return pillar in the 57th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $8,035. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $6,018.

Federally aided completers working and not enrolled earn median earnings of $63,444 four years after completion, in the 61st percentile. That is $6,143 above the peer median of $57,301 at comparable institutions, the middle value for schools in the same type and size.

The median earnings for federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled four years after finishing a degree at Central Washington University are $63,444. That is $6,143 above the median at comparable institutions (same type and size).

The earnings cohort behind that median numbers 2,607 completers. Azimuth places that median in the 61st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix show a typical outcome of $63,444, a downside of $48,680 and an upside of $84,047. An estimated 27.1% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix, so the four-year earnings picture captures most but not all completers.

Central Washington University posts earnings above its comparable-institution benchmark, and the model also places graduates ahead of expectations. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $63,444 four years after completion, in the 61st percentile.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $57,301; the university’s figure is $6,143 above it. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, falls in the 62nd percentile.

Graduates earn about $2,017 more than the model expects for similar students. Azimuth places the return pillar in the 57th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Downside and upside earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix are $48,680 and $84,047. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $8,035.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $6,018. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $1,345.

The peer comparison, model result, and return standing point in the same direction. Azimuth ranks it #1 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.

Teacher Education had median earnings of $59,659; its earnings were 1.26x the national median for its field. Construction Management awarded 38 degrees, with median earnings of $97,651, and Azimuth ranks it #11 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.

These nationally ranked programs span several earnings levels rather than a uniform program pattern.

Program selection makes a large difference in the earnings picture at Central Washington University. Earnings scenarios based on the program mix run from $48,680 on the downside to $84,047 on the upside; they are scenarios rather than observed groups of graduates.

Several fields sit near the upper end four years after completion: Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians at $97,869, Construction Management at $97,651, and Allied Health Professions at $97,263. Those field-level medians give the modeled range practical context.

For borrowers who complete, Central Washington University combines debt below its comparable peers with earnings that exceed the model’s expectation. Median federal student loan debt is $19,500, covering federal-loan borrowers who completed rather than all undergraduates.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $21,229, and the university’s figure is below it by $1,729. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $222 a month if repaid over ten years.

This is a repayment model, not a payment reported by borrowers. Graduates earn about $2,017 more than the model expects for similar students.

The lower debt comparison and higher-than-expected earnings point in the same direction.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$8,035
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$6,018
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$2,017

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / Central Washington University briefing

Central Washington University acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

At Central Washington University, the admission rate of 90.6% indicates that admission was available to a large share of the reported applicant pool. That rate is above the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Applicants should use the reported rate as one context point when building an application list.

Admissions
Admission rate
90.6%
Read the full admissions brief

04 / Central Washington University briefing

What are the largest majors at Central Washington University?[12]

At Central Washington University, Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians stands at the higher-earning end, with median earnings of $97,869 four years after completion. Azimuth ranks the program #1 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field, and it awarded 28 degrees.

By contrast, Human Services recorded $54,318 and awarded 47 degrees; Azimuth ranks it #9 nationally in its field. Construction Management had median earnings of $97,651 across 38 degrees awarded and holds an Azimuth national rank of #11 in its field.

Subject-Area Teacher Education recorded $61,604 with 137 degrees awarded, ranking #13 nationally by Azimuth in its field. The figures show a clear difference between the higher-earning construction field and these more moderate-earning fields.

Central Washington University has 25 ranked bachelor’s fields. Azimuth ranks Human Services #9 nationally, with 47 degrees awarded and median earnings of $54,318 four years after completion.

Teacher Education ranks #12 nationally, with 246 degrees awarded and $59,659 in median earnings four years after completion.

Central Washington University awards the largest share of its bachelor's degrees in Business, at 22.3% of the total, followed by Education at 14.8% and Social Sciences at 9.0%. Across all fields, 18.1% of degrees are in STEM.

The university has 25 programs with an Azimuth national rank and 37 with published four-year earnings data. The largest single program is Business Administration and Management, at 257 degrees awarded, with Teacher Education close behind at 246 and Psychology at 181.

The highest-ranked program is Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians, with 28 degrees awarded and median earnings of $97,869 four years after completion. Human Services carries a benchmark ratio of 1.12x against the national median for its field, with 47 degrees awarded, and ranks #1 in Washington.

Construction Management ranks #11 nationally and #1 in Washington within its field, with 38 degrees awarded and median earnings of $97,651. The highest-earning program is a much smaller one: Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians completers earn $97,869 four years after completion, from 28 degrees awarded a year.

The pattern is a university where strength is concentrated in a few fields rather than spread evenly across the catalog. The top-ranked programs—Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians, Human Services, and Construction Management—award relatively few degrees, and the highest-earning programs are not the largest ones.

Business Administration and Management, the biggest program, earns $73,036 and carries a benchmark ratio of 1.07x, while Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians earns its median from a fraction of the degrees.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Business Administration, Management and Operations 257 degrees awarded
$73,036
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods 246 degrees awarded
$59,659
Psychology, General 181 degrees awarded
$54,530
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas 137 degrees awarded
$61,604
Criminal Justice and Corrections 128 degrees awarded
$60,761
Air Transportation 107 degrees awarded
$74,997

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / Central Washington University briefing

How does Central Washington University serve students from different backgrounds?

Completion is a relative strength at Central Washington University: the first-time full-time cohort has a 53.6% six-year graduation rate. Pell recipients in that cohort complete within six years at 57.3%, above the overall rate by 3.7 percentage points.

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, the mobility pillar reaches the 87th percentile. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, also favor the university.

Graduates earn about $2,017 more than the model expects for similar students. Azimuth places that measure in the 62nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Completion and modeled earnings point in the same direction.

Central Washington University admits 90.6% of applicants, an entry pattern that sits alongside a sizeable transfer presence. Its undergraduate enrollment is 7,833 undergraduates; 28.3% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants, and the estimated share of entrants outside the first-time, full-time group is 37.7%.

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, the access pillar reaches the 54th percentile. Admission and transfer entry describe more than one route into the university.

06 / Central Washington University briefing

What colleges are similar to Central Washington University?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with Central Washington University.

Admissions peerEastern Washington University90.8% admitted
Comparison with Central Washington University
MeasureCentral Washington UniversityEastern Washington University
Peer earnings · 4 years$63,444$60,781-$2,663 vs Central Washington University
Average annual net price$18,476$13,886-$4,590 vs Central Washington University · lower cost
Admission rate90.6%90.8%
Explore Eastern Washington University →
Nearby alternativePacific Lutheran UniversityNearby option · WA
Comparison with Central Washington University
MeasureCentral Washington UniversityPacific Lutheran University
Peer earnings · 4 years$63,444$63,671+$227 vs Central Washington University
Average annual net price$18,476$19,589+$1,113 vs Central Washington University · higher cost
Admission rate90.6%78.0%
Higher-earnings alternativeUniversity of Massachusetts-Lowell$81,163 earnings
Comparison with Central Washington University
MeasureCentral Washington UniversityUniversity of Massachusetts-Lowell
Peer earnings · 4 years$63,444$81,163+$17,719 vs Central Washington University
Average annual net price$18,476$17,163-$1,313 vs Central Washington University · lower cost
Admission rate90.6%83.0%
Explore University of Massachusetts-Lowell →
Lower-cost alternativeCUNY Brooklyn College$3,103 average net price
Comparison with Central Washington University
MeasureCentral Washington UniversityCUNY Brooklyn College
Peer earnings · 4 years$63,444$62,833-$611 vs Central Washington University
Average annual net price$18,476$3,103-$15,373 vs Central Washington University · lower cost
Admission rate90.6%58.4%
Explore CUNY Brooklyn College →
Similar profileUniversity of WyomingMatched across several measures
Comparison with Central Washington University
MeasureCentral Washington UniversityUniversity of Wyoming
Peer earnings · 4 years$63,444$61,749-$1,695 vs Central Washington University
Average annual net price$18,476$13,599-$4,877 vs Central Washington University · lower cost
Admission rate90.6%96.9%
Explore University of Wyoming →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings