Western Governors University
Private College in Salt Lake City, UT. Six-year graduation rate 46%. Median 10-year earnings $60,615.
A decade after enrolling, the median Western Governors University student earns $60,615 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. Six-year completion sits at 46%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Graduates leave owing a median of $11,116 — modest by four-year standards.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.18 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Completion is middling: 46% finish inside six years. First-year retention is 65% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. At 42:1, instructor access is thin — worth probing on a campus visit. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 135,665 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $11,328 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($12,064 versus $12,734), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Grant aid is limited — 43% of students receive any. About 43% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 2,027 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $12,064 |
| $30–48k | $12,436 |
| $48–75k | $12,578 |
| $75–110k | $14,824 |
| $110k+ | $12,734 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 58,645 of these 135,665 students, totalling $348,733,425 — an average of $5,947 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Salt Lake County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)