Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities at Northwest Nazarene University

The small sample size here demands caution, but the pattern is troubling: Northwest Nazarene's liberal arts graduates start at $25,923—about $6,000 below Idaho's median for this program and trailing every comparable state school by a significant margin. Lewis-Clark State College's liberal arts grads earn 52% more right out of the gate, and even BYU-Idaho (known for low tuition) delivers 15% higher starting salaries. The debt load itself isn't unusual at $27,000, matching national norms, but paired with earnings in just the 11th percentile nationally, you're looking at a debt-to-earnings ratio that makes the first few years financially tight.

What makes this particularly difficult is that this is a general liberal arts degree without a clear professional pathway, and Northwest Nazarene's moderately selective admission (63% rate, 1184 SAT average) suggests it's not opening doors through prestige. The low Pell grant percentage (29%) indicates this primarily serves middle-income families who may be stretching financially for what appears to be below-market returns compared to Idaho's public institutions.

If your child is set on Northwest Nazarene for faith-based education or campus community, understand you're likely paying a premium—not in debt, but in foregone earnings—compared to Idaho's public options. The small sample means these numbers could shift dramatically, but given the consistency of better outcomes at state schools, the burden of proof lies with explaining why this program would buck that trend.