How much does it cost?

Example budget for 2023-24 academic year (assumes 9 months):

*Source data found here.

Whoa, I thought you said it was affordable!

It is.

Let’s compare our cost to other museum studies programs. The average cost for one year of tuition at for a museum studies graduate program is $30,285.* Museology’s tuition is $21,630.

*This figure uses out-of-state tuition for other museum studies programs. Museology does not differentiate between in and out-of-state for tuition.

You won’t pay the full price.

Paid internships

We pay students for their internship hours, which means you’ll likely be paid $1,800 during your Museology degree, reducing the cost of the degree by 4%.

Paid internships

Part-time work

80% of our students work part-time while doing their degree. You may be eligible for Work Study, a federal program that subsidizes student workers’ salaries. Our students have found great on-campus jobs that enable them to make money while learning valuable work skills. Both of the museums on campus are eligible to hire Work Study students. Seattle’s minimum wage is $19.97. If you work 20 hours a week for minimum wage (and often students are paid higher than that), you’ll be making nearly $400 per week.

UW Work Study

Estimate your financial aid eligibility

Finances should not be a barrier to getting an education! Find out what types of loans, scholarships, and grants you may be eligible for.

UW Financial Aid price calculator

Loans

62% of our incoming students take out a loan.

Of the students that take out loans, those loans average $47,700.

Our students typically graduate with an average debt of $29,500.

*Based on self-reported data from the Class of 2023.

How do I repay my loans?

Our graduates are successful, and they’re well positioned to pay back their loans. Of students who graduated from 2018-2022, 76% are employed in museums or related businesses or non-profits. The types of jobs that our students are taking right out of school pay an average of $52,000-$60,000 (in the Seattle-area).

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

PSLF is a program for people who work in public service in federal, state, tribal, or local government, or for a non-profit organization.

How to qualify for PSLF:

• Have Federal Direct loans: This includes Direct Subsidized loans, Direct Unsubsidized loans, Direct Consolidation loans, and Direct Grad PLUS loans. If you have Perkins or FFEL loans, you must consolidate them into a Direct Consolidation loan. If you have Direct Parent PLUS loans, you may also need to consolidate.
• Work full time for a public employer: The DOE defines “full time” as working at least 30 hours/week. This includes multiple part-time public jobs where your combined work equals at least 30 hours/week. If you are part-time faculty, your in-class teaching hours are subject to a 3.35 multiplier.
• Enroll in an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Plan: These include: Income-Based Repayment (IBR), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE), and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR). Payments you make on the 10-year standard repayment plan are also eligible for the PSLF program.
• Make 120 on-time, complete payments: Your payments do not need to be consecutive (i.e., you need 10 full years to qualify but these 10 years don’t need to happen all in a row). However, you must be employed full time for a public employer at the time you apply for PSLF, and during the month you make a payment for that payment to qualify. After you make 120 qualifying payments and apply for PSLF, ED will forgive your remaining loan balance. Student loan amounts forgiven under PSLF are not considered income for tax purposes.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness