unitid 157951 · Bowling Green, KY · public 4-year · city (small)
Western Kentucky University
- enrollment 2023
- 19,863
- predominant degree
- Bachelor's
scorecard 2026-06 · percentiles within public 4-years
The record
admission rate
94%
81st pctl among public 4-years
undergraduates
12,155
77th pctl among public 4-years
Pell share
30%
undergrads on Pell grants
46th pctl among public 4-years
completion
56%
finish within 150% time
71st pctl among public 4-years
sticker cost / yr
$24,188
60th pctl among public 4-years
avg net price / yr
$10,990
after aid, aided students
37th pctl among public 4-years
median earnings, 10 yr
$43,889
after entry, Title IV students
30th pctl among public 4-years
median grad debt
$22,095
73rd pctl among public 4-years
what families actually pay
Cost
Sticker price is a fiction for most families — net price is what aided students pay after grants, by family income.
Average net price by family income, 2023–24 aid cohort
Families earning under $30k paid $7,087 per year after aid.
Dashed hollow marks are privacy-suppressed brackets — not zero. Band: middle half of public 4-years (all incomes).
Who enrolls, by family income
- 0-30k30%
- 30-48k17%
- 48-75k18%
- 75-110k17%
- 110k+19%
- Median family income
- $41,838
- First-generation students
- 36%
- In-state tuition & fees
- $11,652
earnings · debt · programs
Outcomes
Median earnings after entry, working grads with federal aid
Ten years out, the median graduate earns 2.0× the median graduate debt.
Earnings cover federally aided (Title IV) students only.
What programs pay — top fields of study
| program | grads | earn 5 yr | debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | 182 | $55,804 | $25,320 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | 169 | $75,333 | $26,330 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | 160 | $81,177 | — |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities. | 151 | $40,352 | $28,892 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. | 131 | $40,660 | $25,000 |
| Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness. | 123 | $49,122 | $24,593 |
| Psychology, General. | 122 | $41,167 | $24,846 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | 96 | $66,983 | $21,000 |
| Marketing. | 86 | $58,688 | $23,250 |
| Communication Disorders Sciences and Services. | 84 | $62,318 | — |
| Data Analytics. | 80 | — | — |
| Criminology. | 80 | — | $26,000 |
— is privacy suppression at small programs, never zero. Earnings are median, 5 years after completing.
annual scorecard files, 1996–2026
Trajectory
Line breaks are years where the measure wasn't collected — a gap is not a zero.
Admission rate
Price per year
- sticker
- net
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
Undergraduates
nearest neighbors in sector
Compare with peers
built 2026-07-17
Provenance
- U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard, 2026-06 release. Earnings cover federally aided (Title IV) students only. Suppressed values are null, never imputed.
- Annual Scorecard files 1996-2026. A null in early years usually means the measure was not yet collected, not zero.
- Coordinates and locale describe the campus address, not where students live.