Mathematics at Northwest Nazarene University

A mathematics bachelor's degree from Northwest Nazarene typically costs students about $21,750 in debt—roughly matching the national median for math programs—with similar programs nationally producing first-year earnings around $48,800. That puts the debt-to-earnings ratio at 0.45, a manageable figure that suggests graduates could reasonably expect to service their loans on a starting salary, assuming NNU's outcomes align with these peer programs. For context, Idaho has seven schools offering math degrees, but none report sufficient graduate data for direct comparison, leaving you with only national benchmarks to gauge expected returns.

The challenge here is that both the earnings and debt figures are estimated from broader pools—national math programs and similar private nonprofit institutions—because NNU doesn't produce enough math graduates for the Department of Education to publish actual outcomes. This doesn't mean the program underperforms; small sample sizes are common in specialized majors at smaller schools. But it does mean you're making a decision without knowing whether NNU's math graduates actually land the $48,800 jobs their peers typically do, or whether career services and employer networks in Nampa match those at larger institutions.

If your student is drawn to NNU's faith-based mission or campus environment, the estimated debt load appears reasonable for a private college math degree. However, press the school for placement data: where do their math graduates actually work, and what do they earn? Without program-specific outcomes, you're betting that this particular degree will perform like the national average—a reasonable assumption, but one worth validating before committing.