Public · Pullman, WA
Washington State University
Get to know the college, from admissions and cost to life on campus.
Overview
WSU is Washington's land-grant research university, and it takes that mission literally: research is meant to serve the state directly, from wheat breeding to aerospace to renewable energy, with $335.2 million a year behind it. The tradeoff is real: Pullman is a small, isolated Palouse town, hours from a major city, so the research-university scale and the small-town setting pull in different directions at once.
About Washington State University
- Type
- Public Research University
- Setting
- College town
- Undergraduates
- 21,099
Admissions
- Early Decision/Early Action
- No
- Accepts Common App
- —
Cost
Tuition and aid
- Full cost of attendance
- $27,914per year
- In-state tuition
- —
- Out-of-state tuition
- —
- Average family income
- $64,048
- Students with a school grant
- 83%
- Average school grant
- $5,471
- Average federal debt
- $18,500at graduation
- Need-blind
- —
- Meets full need
- —
- Merit scholarships
- Yes
- CSS Profile
- —
- International aid
- —
Academics
- Majors offered
- 89
- Freshmen who return
- 78%
- Notable
- $335.2Min research spending, spanning aerospace to agriculture to VR scripting
Students
Campus life
- Setting
- College town
- Location
- Pullman, WA
- Live on campus
- —
- Student organizations
- —
- Varsity sports
- —
WSU's own framing is "small town feel, big college experience," and Pullman backs it up: population 32,901, 51% of them students, connected to Moscow, Idaho by an 8-mile bike path, ranked among the safest college towns in the country. All first-years live on campus across 16 residence halls, and 300+ clubs (including 60+ Greek chapters) keep the town busy. Cougar football game days are town-wide events, and traditions like Cougar Gold cheese run deep. The real trade-off is isolation: Pullman sits in the agricultural Palouse region, hours from a major city, and students moving from anywhere urban describe a real adjustment first. The Daily Evergreen, WSU's paper since 1895, covers that texture directly.
Summarized by Spike from what students write: WSU Life at WSU, The Daily Evergreen.
Outcomes
- Earnings 6 years in
- $59,032
- Graduate within 6 years
- 61%
- Average federal debt
- $18,500
- Graduates go into
- WSU Creamery, Commercialized Research, Economic Impact
Reviews
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Spike Rankings 2027
Where Washington State University ranks.
Ranked on federal data about graduation, earnings and cost. How Spike ranks colleges
Common questions
Questions about Washington State University
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