Affordability is the stronger pillar at Western Illinois University; return figures are mixed. Azimuth puts its return pillar in the 43rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.
Graduates earn about $3,221 less than the model expects for similar students. Azimuth places earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, in the 43rd percentile nationally.
The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $4,628. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $7,849.
Median earnings four years after completion are $57,453, in the 41st percentile. They are $152 above the peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), of $57,301. Earnings are above peers but below the model expectation.
Western Illinois University graduates have median earnings of $57,453 four years after completion, among completers who are working and not enrolled. Azimuth places that median in the 41st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, using an earnings cohort of 2,834 completers.
Graduates earn about $3,221 less than the model expects for similar students. Earnings scenarios based on the program mix place typical earnings at $57,453, with a downside scenario of $45,278 and an upside scenario of $75,147.
An estimated 25.5% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix. The lower earnings percentile and the model result point in the same direction.
Western Illinois University has a mixed return picture: federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $57,453 four years after completion, in the 41st percentile. That median is $152 above the peer median of $57,301 for comparable institutions (same type and size), the middle value for that group.
Graduates earn about $3,221 less than the model expects for similar students. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, sits in the 43rd percentile.
Azimuth places its return pillar in the 43rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix range from $45,278 on the downside to $75,147 on the upside.
The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $4,628. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $7,849.
Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $257. The largest program, Criminal Justice, awarded 199 degrees in one academic year; its completers had median earnings of $63,125 four years after completion.
Program choice accounts for a broad spread in modeled earnings at Western Illinois University. Four years after completion, the downside earnings scenario is $45,278 and the upside scenario is $75,147.
At the higher end, Computer and Information Sciences completers earn a median of $92,824, Nursing completers earn $86,694, and Construction Management completers earn $85,974. These program figures show why the modeled range is wide.
After grants and scholarships, aid recipients at Western Illinois University pay an average of $12,937, which is $1,131 below the median at comparable institutions (same type and size). The lowest income band averages $6,941 and the highest averages $19,701, a spread of $12,760 between the two ends.
Borrowers who finish hold a median of $25,251 in federal student loans, $4,022 above the peer median of $21,229. If repaid over ten years, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $287 a month.
Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $20,764. Graduates earn about $3,221 less than the model expects for similar students.
The net price runs below the peer median while debt runs above it, so the two pull in different directions.