Quad
Washburn UniversityTopeka, KS · Public

Academics

Majors and faculty

The most popular major is Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse (19% of graduates). 15 students for every faculty member, more than at 66% of colleges. 62% of faculty are full-time. Spends $10,422 a year on instruction per student.

Most popular majors

682 bachelor's degrees, 2024–25 graduates

The top 5 programs account for 42% of graduates; 58 programs in 21 fields awarded at least one.

  1. Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse 51.380119% 127
    Graduates in this field earn $79,109 4 years out
  2. Health/Health Care Administration/Management 51.07016.3% 43
    Graduates in this field earn $66,325 4 years out
  3. Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies, General 30.00006.0% 41
  4. Criminalistics and Criminal Science 43.04025.7% 39
    Graduates in this field earn $44,534 4 years out
  5. Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness, General 31.05015.3% 36
    Graduates in this field earn $57,079 4 years out

Fastest-growing field: Interdisciplinary studies, 0.7% → 7.0% of graduates since 2014–15 (48 graduates in 2024–25).

Source:IPEDS Completions survey (degrees awarded by field), 2014–15 to 2024–25About the data(built 2026-10-12; CPI retrieved 2026-10-12)

Bachelor's degrees awarded July through June, by federal program name (), which can differ from what the college calls a major. A double major counts once, under the ; its other field is a . Earnings are College Scorecard's median for graduates of the program's broader field (), 4 years after completion; see Top-earning majors below.

Top-earning majors here

By earnings 4 years after completion

  1. Engineering-Related Fields$80,436 4 yrs out

    1 year after completion: Too few graduates to report

    4 years after completion$80,436
    National median: $89,619Below typical

    Median federal debt: Too few graduates to report · 10 graduates, two most recent years combined

  2. Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing$79,109 4 yrs out

    1 year after completion: $71,210

    4 years after completion$79,109
    National median: $88,910Below typical

    4 years out, Pell: $66,593 · Non-Pell: $58,603(an older graduating class than the figure above — see the (i) for why)

    Median federal debt: $22,062 · 293 graduates, two most recent years combined

  3. Computer and Information Sciences, General$78,778 4 yrs out

    1 year after completion: $64,361

    4 years after completion$78,778
    National median: $92,374Below typical

    Median federal debt: Too few graduates to report · 43 graduates, two most recent years combined

  4. Finance and Financial Management Services$76,175 4 yrs out

    1 year after completion: $49,500

    4 years after completion$76,175
    National median: $83,343Below typical

    Median federal debt: $21,136 · 75 graduates, two most recent years combined

  5. Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions$75,787 4 yrs out

    1 year after completion: $71,318

    4 years after completion$75,787
    National median: $70,786Above typical

    4 years out, Pell: $57,705 · Non-Pell: Too few graduates to report(an older graduating class than the figure above — see the (i) for why)

    Median federal debt: $18,622 · 44 graduates, two most recent years combined

Bachelor's programs only, among graduates who received federal financial aid and were working (not enrolled in school) in the measurement year.

Students per faculty member vs. every college15 to 1
15 to 1
← Fewer students per facultymore students per faculty member than 66% of 1,892More students per faculty →

The college also reports 14 to 1 in its Common Data Set (4,559 students, 318 faculty).

Not the average class size: faculty also teach graduate students and do research, and large lectures can sit alongside small seminars.

Class sizes

48%

of classes have fewer than 20 students; 2% have 50 or more

Under 20 students 20 or moreStudents per class section
Undergraduate class sections by number of students
StudentssectionsShare
2–910414%
10–1925234%
20–2920928%
30–3912717%
40–49365%
50–99182%
100+00%

This counts class sections, not students: a lecture of 300 is one section, so a student is more likely to sit in a large class than the share of sections suggests. Labs and discussion sections are counted separately and left out here.

Programs & curriculum

  • Cross-registration
  • Distance learning
  • Double major
  • Dual enrollment
  • English as a Second Language
  • Honors program
  • Independent study
  • Internships
  • Liberal arts/career combination
  • Student-designed major
  • Teacher certification
  • Study abroad
  • Undergraduate research

Requires coursework in arts, English composition, a foreign language, humanities, math, a natural science, and social science.

Full-time faculty62%
National median: 67%Below typical
Average faculty salary

$79,959

9-month equated, all ranks combined. Pay tracks local cost of living as much as a college's generosity.

Spending and endowment

Fiscal 2023–24. Compared only against other public colleges: public and private colleges report finances on different accounting forms that aren't comparable. Many public universities' endowments sit mostly in a separate foundation this survey doesn't count, so this likely understates what's actually available.

Instruction spending per student$10,422
$10,422
← Lessmore than 46% of 557More →
Endowment per student$48,284
$48,284
← Lessmore than 88% of 537More →

Sources:IPEDS Completions survey (degrees awarded by field), 2024–25 graduates;College Scorecard Field of Study data, most recent release;IPEDS Fall Enrollment survey (part D), Fall 2024;IPEDS Salaries survey (SAL, instructional staff, all ranks), Fall 2024;College Scorecard, Fall 2024;IPEDS Finance survey, derived per-student figures, 2023–24;Washburn University Common Data Set 2017–18, Fall 2017;Washburn University Common Data Set 2017–18, 2017–18;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey (athletics, programs, services, religious affiliation), 2025–26About the data(retrieved 2026-10-12)