Materials Engineering at Washington State University

These numbers raise immediate red flags, though the tiny sample size means they might not tell the full story. WSU's materials engineering graduates earn $49,560 their first year out—roughly $25,000 below the national median for this degree and even $11,000 below Washington's state median. That puts this program in the bottom quarter statewide and bottom 5% nationally. For comparison, UW-Seattle's materials engineering grads start at $71,000, showing what stronger programs in the same state deliver.

The $29,760 debt load is actually higher than both state and national medians, creating a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.60 that's workable but not impressive given the field. Materials engineering typically commands solid starting salaries that justify education costs—this appears to be the exception. The program's small graduate cohort (under 30 students) suggests either limited capacity or limited student interest, and could explain the statistical anomaly.

Given these constraints, parents should treat this data as a warning signal worth investigating further. If your child is set on materials engineering in Washington, the University of Washington offers dramatically better earnings outcomes. If WSU is the choice for other reasons—cost, location, campus fit—understand that this particular major may not deliver the return you'd expect from an engineering degree.