Western Kentucky University
Public College in Bowling Green, KY. Six-year graduation rate 58%. Median 10-year earnings $43,889.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $43,889 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. The six-year graduation rate is 58%, meaning about two in five students who start do not finish. Median debt at graduation is $22,095, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 94%, Western Kentucky University takes nearly everyone who applies. 9,840 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. About 30% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. 3% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 420–530 | 15 (3%) |
| SAT Math | 420–520 | |
| ACT Composite | 16–21 | 72 (3%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Western Kentucky University →Academics
Completion is middling: 58% finish inside six years. First-year retention is 78% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. A 22% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 41% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 12,267 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $12,548 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $7,087 at the $0–30k band to $17,653 at $110k+. Most students get help: 89% receive grants worth $10,760 on average. Federal borrowing reaches 41% of students.
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 · 2,796 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 | $7,087 |
| $30–48k | $6,871 |
| $48–75k | $9,765 |
| $75–110k | $14,049 |
| $110k+ | $17,653 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 5,057 of these 12,267 students, totalling $32,842,558 — an average of $6,494 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Warren 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)