Mathematics at Saint Martin's University

A debt burden of roughly $23,000 for a mathematics degree isn't alarming on its own, but when paired with first-year earnings estimates around $47,000—figures drawn from comparable programs across Washington—the picture becomes less certain. Similar bachelor's programs in math statewide suggest a debt-to-earnings ratio near 0.49, which is manageable but not exceptional. What complicates the assessment here is that Saint Martin's specific outcomes remain unknown due to small graduate cohorts, meaning we can't verify whether its students actually match these state averages or fall short of them.

The broader Washington market shows considerable spread: Seattle University grads reportedly earn $58,000 in their first year, while University of Puget Sound comes in around $38,000. Saint Martin's peer programs land somewhere in the middle, but without actual data, parents can't know if the school's location in Lacey—not Seattle's tech corridor—or its smaller alumni network affects job placement. Nationally, the median math graduate earns about $49,000, so the state estimate isn't far off, but it also isn't particularly strong.

The practical takeaway: this looks like a reasonable investment if your child thrives in Saint Martin's environment and plans to stay in Washington, where math degrees generally lead to stable early-career earnings. Just recognize you're betting on the school performing at least as well as its peers—something you can't confirm until after graduation.