Small colleges in Washington are a great option for students interested in a more intimate campus experience, more personal attention from excellent professors, and more immediate access to support services. Whether the focus is on the technical or on the liberal arts, small colleges give you the chance to pursue a well-rounded education while working closely with classmates and professors in a dynamic community atmosphere.
Of the 40 public options, the University of Washington in Seattle is the largest. Roughly 40,000 students attend classes in fields like nursing, education, biology, and computer science. This public research institution is also affordable, charging about $11,000 for tuition. In fact, none of the public schools in Washington exceed $12,000 in price. This includes community colleges, technical colleges, and four-year universities, making Washington a uniquely affordable place to earn your associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree.
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Washington also has 24 private institutions. Of those, nine are religious. The most widely known of these, Catholic university Gonzaga enrolls roughly 7,000 students, at a cost of $40,000, in areas such as religious studies, engineering, and law. Central Washington University (CWU) is a smaller public school, serving just over 12,000 students, and has a tuition of $8,000. With 15% of its population being Hispanic, CWU is now recognized as an emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution. Washington health professions also have the opportunity to receive funding for loan repayment through Washington’s Health Professional Loan Repayment Program.
Set in the Pacific Northwest, Washington offers ocean beaches and lush forests. In fact, over half the state is covered in forests, earning Washington its nickname as The Evergreen State. Viewers atop the Space Needle in Seattle can take in the sights of Puget Sound, Mount Rainier, and both the Cascades and Olympic mountain ranges. In addition, prospective students can choose from over 60 higher education institutions in the state.
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The following list of the best small colleges and universities in Washington is composed mainly of four-year undergraduate schools (though a handful also offer graduate programs). We’ve identified 27 small colleges in Washington. The list below of the 30 best small colleges in Washington. To be included schools must fully accredited, and must have student body populations below 5,000 students.
Tuition + fees
$56K
Acceptance
59%
Graduation
89%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1330/31
Whitman College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
99%
Graduation
43%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1078/20
Evergreen State College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$56K
Acceptance
88%
Graduation
74%
Student body
2K
University of Puget Sound’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$36K
Acceptance
92%
Graduation
66%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1085/23
Seattle Pacific University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$48K
Acceptance
88%
Graduation
69%
Student body
3K
Pacific Lutheran University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$35K
Acceptance
46%
Graduation
57%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1240/28
DigiPen Institute of Technology’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$14K
Student body
1K
City University of Seattle’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$31K
Graduation
64%
Student body
2K
Walla Walla University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$48K
Acceptance
91%
Graduation
75%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1160/24
Whitworth University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$41K
Acceptance
72%
Graduation
61%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1045/19
Saint Martin's University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$4K
Graduation
51%
Student body
1K
Peninsula College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$4K
Graduation
33%
Student body
3K
Wenatchee Valley College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
43%
Student body
3K
Lake Washington Institute of Technology’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$22K
Student body
<1K
Antioch University Seattle’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$34K
Acceptance
96%
Graduation
58%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1107/22
Northwest University ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$4K
Graduation
33%
Student body
3K
Spokane Falls Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$4K
Graduation
35%
Student body
3K
Skagit Valley College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
44%
Student body
2K
Centralia College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
40%
Student body
3K
North Seattle College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
34%
Student body
2K
Whatcom Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$19K
Graduation
53%
Student body
<1K
Heritage University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Graduation
31%
Student body
3K
Clover Park Technical College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$4K
Graduation
37%
Student body
2K
Bellingham Technical College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
30%
Student body
4K
South Seattle College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
34%
Student body
3K
Yakima Valley College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
40%
Student body
1K
Grays Harbor College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Graduation
57%
Student body
2K
Renton Technical College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Many of our 2022 undergraduate focused rankings look considerably different than 2021. That’s because we took a fundamentally different apporach. For 2021 we utilized our Concentrated Influence algorithm, designed to take away the size advantage larger schools have when we rank their faculty and alumni’s academic influence. Concentrated influence highlights smaller schools that are proportionally as successful as larger universities at cultivating influential alumni and faculty.
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