University of Washington

In brief

The University of Washington (UW) opened in Seattle in 1861 as the Territorial University of Washington, decades before statehood in 1889. It moved to its present campus in northeast Seattle in 1895. By our measure of academic influence, it ranks #19 in the United States and #43 in the world. It admitted 39.2% of applicants for fall 2024.

With its campuses in Bothell and Tacoma, UW has some 56,000 students and an endowment of about $6 billion (2025).

Where UW’s influence is strongest

UW ranks in the US top 35 in nearly every broad field we measure, led by the earth sciences, computer science, and social work. Its strongest broad fields, by US rank in our data, are:

• Earth sciences: #12 in the US (#39 in the world)
• Computer science and social work: #13 each
• Anthropology: #14
• Biology: #15

Within those fields, UW is a national leader in several specialties:

• #2 in the US: atmospheric sciences (only MIT ranks higher) and community psychology (only Russell Sage College ranks higher)
• #3 in the US: systems biology (behind Harvard and Stanford)
• #4: oceanography

How we measure influence: these ranks come from the citations and recognition earned by a school’s faculty and alumni in each discipline, not from surveys or admissions statistics. See our methodology.

Notable people

Seven UW-affiliated people have won the Nobel Prize, including the physicists Hans Dehmelt and David Thouless and the physiologists Edmond Fischer, Leland Hartwell, and Linda Buck. UW-connected figures also include the photographer Imogen Cunningham, the glass artist Dale Chihuly, the architect Minoru Yamasaki, the novelist Marilynne Robinson, the journalist Chet Huntley, and the martial artist and actor Bruce Lee. Our full lists of UW’s most influential alumni and faculty appear below.

Frequently asked questions

Is UW hard to get into? Moderately. It admitted 39.2% of applicants for fall 2024.

What does UW cost after financial aid? Tuition is $13,406 for Washington residents and $44,640 for out-of-state students in 2025–26. The average net price for aided students with family incomes of $48,000–$75,000 was $8,585 in 2024–25; it ranged from about $7,112 for incomes of $30,000–$48,000 to $30,441 for incomes above $110,000.

How do UW graduates do? 85.3% of students who started in 2019 graduated within six years, and 95% of first-year students return for a second year. Ten years after starting college, former students had median earnings of $83,105.

What is UW best known for academically? By our influence data: the earth sciences, computer science, social work, and anthropology, plus atmospheric sciences, where only MIT ranks higher in the US.