by our College Data Analytics TeamWillamette University is a private not-for-profit institution in Salem, Oregon enrolling 1,592 undergraduates. It accepts 77% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 71%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #580 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 11%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Willamette University ranks #580 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 11%.
College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.
Willamette University was awarded 14 badges in the 2027 rankings.
According to College Factual’s 2027 analysis, Willamette is ranked #580 out of 5,159 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 20% of all schools in the nation.
Willamette is also ranked #10 on the Best Colleges in Oregon list.
See all of the rankings for Willamette University.
Willamette University has an acceptance rate of 77%, which makes it somewhat selective. Make sure it’s not the only school you apply to, even if it’s your school of choice. Whether you get in or not will largely depend on how you compare to other applicants.
About 18% of students accepted to Willamette submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 640 and 730. Math scores were between 600 and 710.
Willamette received ACT scores from 9% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 28 and 33.
Learn more about Willamette University admissions.
With a student to faculty ratio of 13 to 1, Willamette University is about average in this regard as the nationwide rate is 15 to 1. While this does not translate directly to class size, it’s a good indicator of how much time professors will have to spend with their students on a one-on-one basis.
When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Willamette University is 69%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Willamette University has a freshmen retention rate of 87%. That’s a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It’s also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at Willamette for first-time, full-time students is 71%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Willamette University.
In the current academic year, there are 1,592 undergraduates at Willamette.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Willamette University.
The overall average net price of Willamette is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $16,182 | $16,825 | $18,225 | $22,382 | $33,794 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Willamette, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Willamette, approximately 39% of students took out student loans averaging $5,817 a year. That adds up to $23,268 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 2.1%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for Willamette University.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from Willamette University make around $56,911 per year during the early years of their employment. That’s great news for Willamette University students since it is 16% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at Willamette University make the most money.
Willamette University is an private not-for-profit institution situated in Salem, Oregon. Salem is a great location for students who prefer city over country life. Get more details about the location of Willamette University.
Contact details for Willamette University are listed below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 900 State St, Salem, OR 97301 |
| Phone: | 5033706300 |
| Website: | www.willamette.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willamette_University |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/Willamette |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/willamette_u |
In the latest year of available data, students from 21 majors graduated from Willamette University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 519 | NA |
| Law | 108 | $53,741 |
| Business Administration & Management | 81 | $66,562 |
| Data Science. | 52 | NA |
| Natural Resources Conservation | 23 | $25,204 |
| Economics | 22 | $31,509 |
| Political Science & Government | 22 | $33,011 |
| Public Health | 16 | NA |
| Computer Science | 15 | NA |
| Health & Physical Education | 15 | $25,078 |
Curious how schools stack up against Willamette? Compare them side by side using College Combat, a free interactive tool for comparing colleges on the features you care about.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References