Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods at Walla Walla University

Walla Walla University's teaching graduates earn $55,427 right out of the gate—substantially more than the typical Washington teacher education grad ($44,922) and $10,000+ above the national figure. At the 60th percentile statewide, this program sits alongside Pacific Lutheran and Pierce College as one of the stronger options in Washington, though the small graduating class (under 30 students) means these numbers could swing significantly year to year.

The debt load of $29,249 is higher than Washington's median for teacher ed programs ($22,000), but the strong starting salaries keep the debt-to-earnings ratio at a manageable 0.53. Put differently, graduates owe about half their first-year salary—reasonable territory for a teaching career, where earnings tend to be stable if not spectacular. The combination of above-average earnings and contained debt explains why this program ranks in the 95th percentile nationally, even if it's more middle-of-the-pack within Washington's competitive landscape.

The caveat matters: small programs can produce outlier results, and what's true for one graduating cohort may not hold for the next. Still, for families willing to accept some uncertainty in the data, Walla Walla appears to prepare teachers who command strong starting salaries in a profession where that's genuinely difficult to achieve.