Borrowing and outcomes
Student debt at Washington colleges
Across the 63 Washington colleges that report both figures, median federal student debt at graduation is $14,573, and a median of 19.9% of students take federal loans. Those two numbers belong together: the dollar figure describes only the students who borrowed, so it means something quite different at a college where most students borrow than at one where few do.
Which student-debt number this is
This page measures debt at graduation, by college: what students who borrowed had taken in federal loans by the time they finished at a particular Washington institution. Most published “average student debt in Washington” figures measure something else, the total balance carried by borrowers who live in Washington, which includes graduate-school borrowing and years of accrued interest and is therefore much larger. Both are real; they answer different questions. Use this one to compare colleges, not to estimate a lifetime balance.
Median debt at graduation
$14,573
Middle half: $11,946 to $20,192
Median share who borrow
19.9%
Across 63 colleges
Illustrative monthly payment
$166/mo
10-year standard plan at 6.52%
Washington colleges by median federal debt at graduation
Lowest median debt first, showing 60 of 63 colleges (38 public, 25 private). This is a sort of one reported figure, not a ranking and not a recommendation. Every row shows the borrower share beside the dollar amount because neither number means much alone.
| College | Median federal debt | Share who borrow | Illustrative payment | Earnings 10 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cascadia College, Bothell, WA · Public four-year | $6,368 | 2.2% | $72/mo | $54,133 |
| Renton Technical College, Renton, WA · Public four-year | $7,920 | 3.9% | $90/mo | $49,782 |
| Big Bend Community College, Moses Lake, WA · Public four-year | $9,166 | 6.7% | $104/mo | $43,814 |
| Carrington College-Spokane, Spokane, WA · Private two-year | $9,295 | 56.2% | $106/mo | $36,625 |
| Highline College, Des Moines, WA · Public four-year | $9,500 | 1.8% | $108/mo | $47,869 |
| Pima Medical Institute-Renton, Renton, WA · Private two-year | $9,500 | 49.4% | $108/mo | $38,673 |
| Pima Medical Institute-Seattle, Seattle, WA · Private two-year | $9,500 | 45.5% | $108/mo | $38,673 |
| Wenatchee Valley College, Wenatchee, WA · Public four-year | $10,332 | 4.2% | $117/mo | $41,127 |
| Everett Community College, Everett, WA · Public two-year | $10,417 | 3.3% | $118/mo | $45,434 |
| Lower Columbia College, Longview, WA · Public four-year | $10,506 | 18.1% | $119/mo | $40,691 |
| Whatcom Community College, Bellingham, WA · Public four-year | $10,643 | 4.8% | $121/mo | $44,092 |
| Clark College, Vancouver, WA · Public four-year | $10,881 | 19.5% | $124/mo | $42,356 |
| South Puget Sound Community College, Olympia, WA · Public two-year | $11,000 | 6.8% | $125/mo | $45,039 |
| Grays Harbor College, Aberdeen, WA · Public four-year | $11,075 | 5% | $126/mo | $40,865 |
| Edmonds College, Lynnwood, WA · Public four-year | $11,855 | 2.9% | $135/mo | $48,144 |
| Green River College, Auburn, WA · Public four-year | $11,891 | 8.7% | $135/mo | $50,712 |
| Olympic College, Bremerton, WA · Public four-year | $12,000 | 4.3% | $136/mo | $43,169 |
| Pierce College District, Lakewood, WA · Public four-year | $12,000 | 10.6% | $136/mo | $47,532 |
| Seattle Central College, Seattle, WA · Public four-year | $12,000 | 3.9% | $136/mo | $43,307 |
| Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane, WA · Public four-year | $12,000 | 19.1% | $136/mo | $38,955 |
| Shoreline Community College, Shoreline, WA · Public two-year | $12,021 | 4.4% | $137/mo | $52,009 |
| Clover Park Technical College, Lakewood, WA · Public four-year | $12,112 | 5.1% | $138/mo | $41,787 |
| Bellevue College, Bellevue, WA · Public four-year | $12,375 | 3.2% | $141/mo | $56,310 |
| Seattle Film Institute, Seattle, WA · Private four-year | $13,000 | 59.4% | $148/mo | Not reported |
| Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, WA · Public four-year | $13,000 | 13.3% | $148/mo | $47,168 |
| Spokane Community College, Spokane, WA · Public four-year | $13,501 | 19.9% | $153/mo | $41,984 |
| Skagit Valley College, Mount Vernon, WA · Public four-year | $13,805 | 5.8% | $157/mo | $43,505 |
| Bastyr University, Kenmore, WA · Private four-year | $13,817 | 51.4% | $157/mo | $49,364 |
| Yakima Valley College, Yakima, WA · Public four-year | $13,966 | 7.8% | $159/mo | $43,499 |
| Walla Walla Community College, Walla Walla, WA · Public four-year | $14,000 | 13% | $159/mo | $43,526 |
| Perry Technical Institute, Yakima, WA · Private two-year | $14,139 | 73.9% | $161/mo | $57,764 |
| Heritage University, Toppenish, WA · Private four-year | $14,573 | 31.7% | $166/mo | $49,416 |
| University of Washington-Bothell Campus, Bothell, WA · Public four-year | $14,615 | 20.2% | $166/mo | $78,466 |
| University of Washington-Seattle Campus, Seattle, WA · Public four-year | $14,615 | 15.8% | $166/mo | $78,466 |
| University of Washington-Tacoma Campus, Tacoma, WA · Public four-year | $14,615 | 29.7% | $166/mo | $78,466 |
| Columbia Basin College, Pasco, WA · Public four-year | $14,829 | 3.5% | $169/mo | $46,680 |
| Lake Washington Institute of Technology, Kirkland, WA · Public four-year | $15,047 | 4.5% | $171/mo | $50,669 |
| North Seattle College, Seattle, WA · Public four-year | $15,458 | 2.2% | $176/mo | $47,728 |
| Peninsula College, Port Angeles, WA · Public four-year | $15,786 | 7.5% | $179/mo | $37,078 |
| Bellingham Technical College, Bellingham, WA · Public four-year | $17,459 | 8.6% | $198/mo | $49,748 |
| Faith International University, Tacoma, WA · Private four-year | $17,650 | 31.8% | $201/mo | $51,006 |
| Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA · Private four-year | $18,437 | 36.4% | $210/mo | $67,589 |
| Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA · Public four-year | $18,500 | 28.2% | $210/mo | $62,569 |
| Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA · Public four-year | $19,500 | 35.7% | $222/mo | $61,580 |
| Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA · Public four-year | $19,500 | 67.5% | $222/mo | $57,897 |
| Washington State University, Pullman, WA · Public four-year | $19,500 | 30.8% | $222/mo | $68,905 |
| Seattle University, Seattle, WA · Private four-year | $19,883 | 46.1% | $226/mo | $75,272 |
| The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA · Public four-year | $20,500 | 40.6% | $233/mo | $45,320 |
| Northwest University, Kirkland, WA · Private four-year | $20,891 | 73.3% | $237/mo | $54,914 |
| Northwest University-Center for Online and Extended Education, Kirkland, WA · Private four-year | $20,891 | 38.2% | $237/mo | $54,914 |
| Saint Martin's University, Lacey, WA · Private four-year | $22,500 | 59.3% | $256/mo | $62,092 |
| Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA · Private four-year | $22,578 | 44% | $257/mo | $66,990 |
| Antioch University-Seattle, Seattle, WA · Private four-year | $23,501 | 50% | $267/mo | $51,541 |
| Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA · Private four-year | $24,000 | 51.5% | $273/mo | $64,506 |
| Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA · Private four-year | $24,454 | 36% | $278/mo | $78,892 |
| City University of Seattle, Seattle, WA · Private four-year | $25,000 | 14.4% | $284/mo | $69,460 |
| University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA · Private four-year | $25,000 | 42.9% | $284/mo | $69,594 |
| Whitworth University, Spokane, WA · Private four-year | $25,000 | 53.6% | $284/mo | $58,561 |
| Whitworth University-Adult Degree Programs, Spokane, WA · Private four-year | $25,000 | 63.3% | $284/mo | $58,561 |
| Walla Walla University, College Place, WA · Private four-year | $26,842 | 48.5% | $305/mo | $61,885 |
The illustrative payment assumes the standard 10-year federal repayment plan at 6.52%, the U.S. Department of Education, fixed rate for undergraduate Direct Loans first disbursed July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. It is an illustration, not a quote.
What the Washington borrowing data shows
- Across the 63 Washington colleges reporting both figures, median federal debt at graduation is $14,573 and the median borrower share is 19.9%. The middle half of these colleges falls between $11,946 and $20,192.
- On the standard 10-year federal repayment plan at 6.52%, $14,573 works out to about $166 a month for 10 years. That is an illustration of one repayment plan, not a quote: income-driven plans produce very different payments, and a real borrower's loans carry the rate in force in each year they borrowed.
- The borrower share varies far more than the dollar figure. At Highline College 1.8% of students take federal loans; at Perry Technical Institute it is 73.9%. Read the two numbers together — a low median at a college where almost nobody borrows describes the few who did, not the typical student.
- Median earnings ten years after entry, across the 62 Washington colleges here that report it, is $49,582. That figure covers students who received federal aid and reflects the mix of programs and students at each college, not the effect of attending it.
How these figures were built
Every number comes from the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard / IPEDS), as carried in CampusPin’s committed snapshot of 2026-08-13. Nothing is recomputed, modelled, or imputed.
An institution appears here only if it reports bothmedian federal debt at graduation and the share of students receiving federal loans. Median debt without the borrower share is the misleading half of the statistic, so a college reporting one and not the other is excluded rather than shown incomplete. Institutions sharing an identical debt, borrower-share and earnings tuple are also excluded, because that pattern means one record’s series was attached to several colleges upstream and the figure cannot be attributed to a single school.
Federal loans only. Private loans, parent PLUS borrowing, and money families pay without borrowing are not in this data, so real household borrowing is higher than these figures. Median debt describes students who borrowed and completed, not all students. Figures reflect a prior cohort and lag the current academic year by one to two federal reporting cycles.
Frequently asked questions
- How much student debt do Washington college graduates have?
- Across the 63 Washington colleges that report both figures, the median federal loan debt at graduation is $14,573, and a median of 19.9% of students take federal loans. Individual colleges range from $6,368 to $30,750. These are federal loans only, so households that also used private or parent PLUS loans borrowed more than this.
- Does a low average debt figure mean a college is affordable?
- Not on its own. Median debt describes only the students who borrowed and completed. A college where 15% of students borrow can post a low median while most families pay a high price out of pocket, and a college where most students borrow can post a modest median because its price is genuinely low. Always read the dollar figure together with the share who borrow, which is why this page never shows one without the other.
- Is this every college in Washington?
- No. This page covers the 63 Washington institutions in CampusPin's dataset that report BOTH median debt at graduation and the borrower share. A college reporting only one of the two is excluded rather than shown with half the statistic. CampusPin's dataset is also not the complete federal Title IV universe.
- Why is this lower than the average student debt figure I have seen for Washington?
- Because they measure different things. This page reports median federal debt AT GRADUATION for students at Washington colleges. The widely published state figures report the total federal balance carried by borrowers who RESIDE in a state, which includes graduate-school borrowing and years of accrued interest on loans taken long ago, so it is substantially higher. Neither is wrong. Use debt at graduation to compare colleges against each other, and the residence figure to understand what people in a state currently owe.
- What is not counted in these figures?
- Private student loans, parent PLUS borrowing, and money families pay without borrowing are all outside this data, so real household cost is higher than the numbers here. The figures also reflect a prior graduating cohort and lag the current academic year by one to two federal reporting cycles.
Limitations of this data
- Median debt covers FEDERAL loans only. Private loans, parent PLUS borrowing, and money families pay without borrowing are not included, so real household cost is higher than this figure.
- It describes students who BORROWED and completed, not all students. Read it together with the borrower share on the same row.
- Figures reflect a prior cohort and lag the current academic year by one to two federal reporting cycles.
- Median earnings ten years out covers students who received federal financial aid, and reflects the mix of programs and students at each institution, not the effect of attending it.
- Reflects institutions in CampusPin's dataset, NOT the full federal Title IV universe.
More West states
Cost and outcomes in Washington
- Affordable colleges in Washington
- All colleges in Washington
- Compare debt across every state
- What college costs at your family income
- Research: college cost vs. outcomes
- Research: where college costs more than a family can borrow
- FAFSA lower earnings list: 12 Washington schools flagged now (17 in December 2025)
Keep going on CampusPin
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Federal reporting is updated annually. Report a data issue.
Data sources & methodology
Debt, borrower-share, and earnings figures for Washington colleges come from federal collections reported by each institution.
Sources used across this page
Not every source informs every figure. Each data point draws on the source appropriate to it see the relevant section and the data dictionary for field-level provenance.
IPEDS / NCES College Navigator
Federal enrollment, admissions, tuition, retention, and program data. Released annually with a 1–2 year lag.
U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard
Net price by income band, post-graduation earnings, and federal aid context.
Institutional websites
Each school's official admissions, registrar, and financial-aid pages are the authoritative source for current details.
Where a value is unavailable it is shown as unavailable, never as 0, free, or a negative judgment. Always confirm final details with the institution before applying.
Suggested citation
CampusPin. Student Debt at Washington Colleges. Retrieved from https://campuspin.com/student-debt/washington