Economics at Western Kentucky University

Western Kentucky's economics program puts graduates slightly ahead of typical Kentucky and national outcomes, with first-year earnings of $53,857 beating both the state median ($51,077) and national median ($51,722). At 60th percentile among Kentucky economics programs, it outperforms larger competitors like the University of Kentucky ($41,713) while maintaining manageable debt of $19,500—substantially lower than the state median of $26,942. That 0.36 debt-to-earnings ratio means graduates owe roughly four months of salary, a reasonable starting point.

The modest 3% earnings growth to $55,446 by year four isn't dramatic, but economics grads often see bigger jumps when they switch jobs or complete graduate degrees. The bigger concern here is sample size: with fewer than 30 graduates in the data, a few outliers could skew these numbers significantly. The program's performance might look quite different with a larger cohort.

For a Kentucky family, this represents solid value—better outcomes than most in-state alternatives at lower cost. Just understand you're looking at limited data that may not fully represent the typical graduate's experience.