College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Washington University in St Louis

MOMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #97 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

#97 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions

Who it’s a good fit for

Washington University in St Louis is a private nonprofit university in St. Louis, Missouri, whose degree mix is led by Business, Social Sciences, and Engineering. Return is among the highest we track.

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them, so the raw earnings figure overstates the outcome against what the model expects. The model attributes an addition to the factors it measures and a subtraction to the remainder it does not explain.

The price case turns on income: the lowest band pays a fraction of the published cost, while the highest band pays much closer to it. Pell students complete below the overall rate, and mobility is well above average.

The admission rate is well below the median for comparable schools, and most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than on to further study. A student weighing the largest programs against the best-paid ones should know that the highest-earning field is also among the largest, so the degree mix does not force a trade-off.

WashU at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
12.1%
Six-year completion[2]
94.3%
Four-year earnings[3]
$95,899

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$5,578
Median student debt[4]
$17,500
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$24,585

WashU rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Washington University in St Louis enrolls 7,857 undergraduates in St. Louis, Missouri, as a private nonprofit university. It lands near the top of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (93rd percentile).

Only 12.1% of applicants gain admission, compared with a median of 71.2% at comparable institutions (same type and size). 95.0% of the first-year cohort returns for a second year, compared with a peer median of 83.4% at comparable institutions.

The six-year graduation rate is 94.3%, against a peer median of 68.8%. An estimated 8.5% of students arrive as transfers or part-time students, so that graduation figure describes only the first-time, full-time group and not the entire student body.

At Washington University in St Louis, the four sit far apart. Return is the strongest, at the 97th percentile, while affordability is the weakest, at the 63rd percentile. Access and mobility fall between them, at the 82nd and 85th percentiles.

Azimuth ranks Washington University in St Louis #97 among nonprofit four-year institutions. The university's strongest pillar is return, which Azimuth places at the 97th percentile, reflecting high median earnings four years after completion.

Access and mobility sit at the 82nd and 85th percentiles, respectively. Affordability is the weakest pillar, at the 63rd percentile.

The university has a Pell share of 17.8%, alongside high completion rates and strong earnings.

The share of undergraduates receiving Pell Grants at Washington University in St Louis is 17.8%, a measure of financial access for the undergraduate body. Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort complete at 87.9%, a rate that sits 6.4 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate (94.3%).

For access, Azimuth places the university at #269 among nonprofit four-year institutions. On the earnings side, graduates earn about $6,561 less than the model expects for similar students.

For mobility, Azimuth ranks the university #222 among nonprofit four-year institutions.

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

WashU rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#97

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 85
Access & reach
National percentile: 82
Affordability
National percentile: 63
Return on investment
National percentile: 97

Top-ranked majors

  1. Finance and Financial Management Services#2
  2. Anthropology#3
  3. Systems Engineering#4

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 / WashU briefing

WashU cost & financial aid[6][7]

Washington University in St Louis publishes a cost of attendance of $88,488, with tuition and fees at $65,790 and room and board at $21,854. After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients is $21,786, a savings of $66,702 against the sticker total.

That sits below the peer median of $27,371 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $5,585. Azimuth ranks the university #526 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For families earning under $30,000, the average net price drops to $1,716. The spread between the lowest and highest income bands is $40,454, reflecting a pricing structure where aid is heavily concentrated at lower incomes.

The published cost of attendance at Washington University in St Louis is $88,488. Azimuth ranks the university #526 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients from families earning under $30,000 is $1,716, for those earning $48,001–$75,000 it is $5,578, and for those earning over $110,000 it is $42,170. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $40,454.

Aid covers about 75% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, bringing the average net price across all bands to $21,786. That is $5,585 below the median of $27,371 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Borrowers who complete a degree carry a median of $17,500 in federal student loans, $6,699 below the peer median of $24,199. About 69.6% of federal aid recipients take federal loans.

Parents who borrow through the separate Parent PLUS program hold a median of $24,585. If repaid over ten years, the median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $199 a month.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$5,578

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at WashU

Federal borrowing at Washington University in St Louis sits well below the norm for comparable institutions. The median federal student debt among borrowers who complete a degree is $17,500.

That median is below the $24,199 median at comparable institutions (same type and size) by $6,699. Roughly 69.6% of federal aid recipients take federal loans.

Parent borrowers, a separate population, carry a median Parent PLUS loan of $24,585. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 18% of graduates borrowed from any source, with an average cumulative amount of $22,127 per borrower.

17% held federal loans averaging $14,204, and 2% held private loans averaging $78,886.

Washington University in St Louis records a median of $95,899 in earnings four years after completion, a figure Azimuth places in the 96th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $6,561 less than the model expects for similar students, an outcome in the 30th percentile.

Earnings scenarios anchored to the program mix span a downside of $60,106, a typical level of $95,899, and an upside of $170,432. For borrowers, the median federal debt at completion is $17,500, a level that is below the $24,199 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $6,699.

If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment for graduates comes to $199.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $24,585. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $199.

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

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$17,500
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$24,585

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$199/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$312/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 / WashU briefing

WashU career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $95,899, at the 96th percentile. That is $27,649 above the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth places the return pillar in the 97th percentile. Graduates earn about $6,561 less than the model expects for similar students.

That puts the gap at the 30th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $7,022.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $13,583. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $5,157.

Four years after graduating, Washington University in St Louis completers earn a median of $95,899, a figure that sits in the 96th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The four-year earnings cohort includes 1,305 completers.

Graduates earn about $6,561 less than the model expects for similar students. Earnings scenarios, which reflect the university's program mix, show a wide range of potential outcomes: a typical return of $95,899, a downside scenario of $60,106, and an upside scenario reaching $170,432.

The model estimates that 34.3% of programs' graduates continue to graduate study, a share derived from program mix rather than observed enrollment. The university's median earnings run above the $68,250 median at comparable institutions (same type and size) by $27,649.

This gap coincides with a program mix that includes high-earning fields: Computer Science graduates earn a median of $177,066, and Finance graduates reach $185,551.

Four years after completion, the median earnings of Washington University in St Louis graduates reach $95,899, placing the university in the 96th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That figure runs above the median of $68,250 for comparable institutions (same type and size), a gap of $27,649.

Graduates earn about $6,561 less than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 30th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $7,022.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $13,583. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $5,157.

Azimuth ranks the university #44 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show a downside of $60,106 and an upside of $170,432.

The largest bachelor's program, Computer Science, awarded 205 degrees and shows median earnings of $177,066 four years after completion, 1.66x the national median for its field. Finance follows with 181 degrees awarded and a median of $185,551—the highest among the largest programs and 2.23x the national median for that field.

Research and Experimental Psychology awarded 189 degrees and a median of $75,261, while Economics graduates earned a median of $102,439 on 105 degrees awarded.

Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, show the range that program choice can make. The typical earnings scenario is $95,899, while the downside scenario sits at $60,106 and the upside reaches $170,432.

These are scenarios, not observed groups of graduates. At the program level, Finance graduates earn a median of $185,551 four years after completion, and Computer Science graduates earn $177,066.

The spread between the downside scenario and the top-earning programs shows how much the return depends on the field a student chooses.

The median federal student debt for borrowers who complete a degree at Washington University in St Louis is $17,500. That figure is below the $24,199 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

If repaid over ten years, that debt would mean a monthly payment of $199. Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate population, carry a median of $24,585.

Graduates earn about $6,561 less than the model expects for similar students. Even so, the university's median earnings four years after completion reach $95,899, which runs above the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $27,649.

That earnings level places the return pillar in the 97th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The average net price for aid recipients is $21,786, below the peer median of $27,371.

For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $1,716; for those earning over $110,000, it is $42,170. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $40,454.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$7,022
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$13,583
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$6,561

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 / WashU briefing

WashU acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Washington University in St Louis admitted 12.1% of applicants in the most recent cycle, well below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 33,283 applicants, 3,968 admitted, and 1,961 enrolled first-year students.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
12.1%
25th percentile
1500
Median
1530
75th percentile
1550

CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / WashU briefing

What are the largest majors at WashU?[12]

The largest programs at Washington University in St Louis span a wide earnings range, and the highest-earning fields are not the ones awarding the most degrees. Computer Science is the largest program, with 205 degrees awarded and median earnings of $177,066 four years after completion.

Azimuth ranks it #18 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field. Finance awards fewer degrees, at 181, but its graduates earn $185,551.

Azimuth ranks it #2 nationally. At the more moderate end, Research and Experimental Psychology awards 189 degrees and posts median earnings of $75,261, ranking #4 nationally.

Business accounts for 18.9% of bachelor's degrees awarded, ahead of Social Sciences at 12.7% and Engineering at 10.2%. National ranks cover 14 bachelor's programs, and earnings figures are available for 17.

Computer Science is the largest single program, at 205 degrees a year. In its field, it holds a national rank of #18.

Finance awards 181 degrees and holds a rank of #2; its graduates earn $185,551 four years after completion.

Washington University in St Louis awards bachelor's degrees across 14 programs with an Azimuth national rank and 17 with published four-year earnings data. The program mix leans toward Business, which accounts for 18.9% of degrees awarded, followed by Social Sciences at 12.7% and Engineering at 10.2%.

The largest single programs are Computer Science with 205 degrees awarded, Research and Experimental Psychology with 189, and Finance with 181. Finance is the highest-ranked program, with median earnings of $185,551 four years after completion.

It carries a benchmark ratio of 2.23x against the national median for its field, and ranks #1 in Missouri. Computer Science, the largest program, earns a median of $177,066 and ranks #18 nationally within its field.

Anthropology is a smaller program at 91 degrees awarded, yet ranks #3 nationally within its field and #1 in Missouri. The pattern shows strength concentrated in business and quantitative social sciences, where several large programs combine high earnings with top national ranks.

41.2% of degrees awarded are in STEM fields. Four-year earnings for fields where graduates commonly pursue graduate study may understate later trajectories.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Computer Science 205 degrees awarded
$177,066
Research and Experimental Psychology 189 degrees awarded
$75,261
Finance and Financial Management Services 181 degrees awarded
$185,551
Economics 105 degrees awarded
$102,439
Anthropology 91 degrees awarded
$71,018
Mechanical Engineering 89 degrees awarded
$95,965

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 / WashU briefing

How does WashU serve students from different backgrounds?

Azimuth places Washington University in St Louis in the 85th percentile for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort complete at 87.9%, while the overall six-year graduation rate stands at 94.3% — a gap of 6.4 percentage points below the broader figure.

Graduates earn about $6,561 less than the model expects for similar students, a result that lands in the 30th percentile.

Azimuth places the access pillar of Washington University in St Louis in the 82nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The university admits 12.1% of applicants, a rate far below the peer median of 71.2%.

Pell Grant recipients account for 17.8% of the 7,857 undergraduates, and an estimated 8.5% enter as transfers or part-time students.

06 / WashU briefing

What colleges are similar to WashU?[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 WashU.

Admissions peerUniversity of Notre Dame11.3% admitted
Comparison with WashU
MeasureWashUUniversity of Notre Dame
Peer earnings · 4 years$95,899$100,684+$4,785 vs WashU
Average annual net price$21,786$26,780+$4,994 vs WashU · higher cost
Admission rate12.1%11.3%
Explore University of Notre Dame →
Higher-admission alternativeMissouri University of Science and Technology72.6% admitted
Comparison with WashU
MeasureWashUMissouri University of Science and Technology
Peer earnings · 4 years$95,899$93,514-$2,385 vs WashU
Average annual net price$21,786$16,298-$5,488 vs WashU · lower cost
Admission rate12.1%72.6%
Explore Missouri University of Science and Technology →
Nearby alternativeMaryville University of Saint LouisNearby option · MO
Comparison with WashU
MeasureWashUMaryville University of Saint Louis
Peer earnings · 4 years$95,899$84,871-$11,028 vs WashU
Average annual net price$21,786$22,066+$280 vs WashU · higher cost
Admission rate12.1%95.1%
Explore Maryville University of Saint Louis →
Higher-earnings alternativeMassachusetts Institute of Technology$161,961 earnings
Comparison with WashU
MeasureWashUMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer earnings · 4 years$95,899$161,961+$66,062 vs WashU
Average annual net price$21,786$20,111-$1,675 vs WashU · lower cost
Admission rate12.1%4.6%
Explore Massachusetts Institute of Technology →
Lower-cost alternativeMissouri University of Science and Technology$16,298 average net price
Comparison with WashU
MeasureWashUMissouri University of Science and Technology
Peer earnings · 4 years$95,899$93,514-$2,385 vs WashU
Average annual net price$21,786$16,298-$5,488 vs WashU · lower cost
Admission rate12.1%72.6%
Explore Missouri University of Science and Technology →
Similar profileUniversity of Notre DameMatched across several measures
Comparison with WashU
MeasureWashUUniversity of Notre Dame
Peer earnings · 4 years$95,899$100,684+$4,785 vs WashU
Average annual net price$21,786$26,780+$4,994 vs WashU · higher cost
Admission rate12.1%11.3%
Explore University of Notre Dame →

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