Verified Federal Data · No Paid Rankings

Best Colleges in Washington

Top Washington colleges ranked by what actually matters after graduation: earnings, completion rates, and what you actually pay. Federal data. No surveys, no sponsorships.

Schools in ranking

Washington schools in dataset

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How We Rank Washington Colleges

Rankings use a composite score from verified federal data: graduate earnings (28%), graduation rate (25%), social mobility via Pell Grant share (20%), debt burden (15%), and net cost for low-income students (12%). Only 4-year non-profit schools with sufficient data qualify.

→Earnings: Median annual earnings 10 years after enrollment. Source: College Scorecard.
→Graduation rate: Full-time first-time students completing within 150% of normal time. Source: IPEDS.
→Net price: Average annual cost after all grants and scholarships. Source: IPEDS.
→Social mobility: Share of students receiving Pell Grants — a direct measure of access for low-income students. Source: IPEDS.
→Debt burden: Median federal loan debt at graduation. Source: College Scorecard.

Top 10 Colleges in Washington (2026)

Ranked by composite: earnings, graduation rate, social mobility, debt, affordability.

#	School	Accept	Net Price/yr	Grad Rate	Earnings (10yr)
1	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus Tacoma, WA	83%	$10,017	63%	$78,466
2	University of Washington-Bothell Campus Bothell, WA	91%	$10,898	65%	$78,466
3	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	39%	$13,485	85%	$78,466
4	Heritage University Toppenish, WA	50%	$11,893	54%	$49,416
5	Washington State University Pullman, WA	87%	$14,401	60%	$68,905
6	Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA	78%	$21,370	69%	$66,990
7	Seattle University Seattle, WA	77%	$34,802	76%	$75,272
8	Western Washington University Bellingham, WA	93%	$18,680	65%	$62,569
9	Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA	91%	$14,715	54%	$61,580
10	Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA	91%	$13,091	43%	$57,897