Psychology at Whitman College

Whitman's psychology program earns a healthy national ranking (63rd percentile), but that masks a troubling in-state reality: graduates earn less than the Washington state median for psychology majors. At $33,090 in the first year, they're trailing peers at Central Washington ($36,964) and WSU ($36,216)—public universities with much lower tuition. By year four, earnings reach only $38,973, still well behind what graduates from comparable Washington schools achieve.

The silver lining is genuinely low debt—just $15,221, which sits in the 95th percentile nationally and nearly $8,000 below the Washington median. That debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.46 means graduates can realistically manage their loans even on psychology salaries. The 18% earnings growth from year one to year four also suggests reasonable career progression.

However, the small sample size here is critical. With under 30 graduates tracked, these numbers could swing dramatically with just a few high or low earners. For parents paying private school tuition at a selective liberal arts college, the value equation is uncertain: you're getting very manageable debt, but earnings that lag behind Washington's public universities. If graduate school is the plan, Whitman's academic rigor may justify the investment. If your child wants to work in psychology immediately after graduation, the in-state publics appear to offer better outcomes at lower cost.