Education at Davis & Elkins College

A debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.70 sits in reasonable territory for education degrees, though peer programs in West Virginia actually suggest stronger outcomes than the national figures used here. With only four education programs in the state, the small market tells an important story: West Virginia schools like Fairmont State report first-year earnings above $40,900 for their education graduates—roughly $2,200 higher than the national benchmark applied to Davis & Elkins. Meanwhile, comparable programs nationally carry about $27,000 in debt, slightly above West Virginia's typical $22,760. This gap matters because teacher salaries are set by state pay scales, meaning Davis & Elkins graduates likely earn closer to what other West Virginia education programs report.

The practical question is whether Davis & Elkins prepares students as effectively as competitors like Fairmont State for West Virginia's teaching market. At an estimated $27,000 in debt against likely earnings in the low $40,000s (based on state norms), monthly loan payments would claim roughly 7% of take-home pay—manageable but not trivial on a teacher's salary. The college serves a significant population of Pell-eligible students (40%), which suggests strong financial aid but also means many families are weighing this investment carefully. Given the limited data, request actual placement rates and first-year teacher hiring outcomes from Davis & Elkins directly—these should exist even when federal data is suppressed, and they'll tell you whether this smaller program connects graduates to West Virginia school districts as effectively as larger state universities.