Workplace
Ranked: Best Value Colleges in Washington State
See which Washington state college provide the best return on investment.
By John Levesque and Dan Shafer October 19, 2017
This article originally appeared in the October 2017 issue of Seattle magazine.
Smartasset, a New York startup providing personal finance information and guidance, ranked colleges across the nation on how much bang a student gets for the bucks invested.
It weighed tuition, average financial aid and student living costs against student retention rates and the average starting salaries of graduates.
Heres how 16 Washington schools ranked.
| State Rank | School | Scholarships/Grants | Tuition | Average Starting Salary | National Rank |
| 1 | UW Seattle | $15,313 | $12,397 | $55,100 | 29 |
| 2 | UW Bothell | 13,614 | 11,911 | 51,800 | 97 |
| 3 | UW Tacoma | 12,503 | 11,902 | 50,300 | 159 |
| 4 | Western Washington | 6,971 | 8,863 | 47,900 | 183 |
| 5 | Washington State | 9,365 | 12,428 | 50,400 | 193 |
| 6 | Eastern Washington | 8,056 | 7,961 | 47,100 | 202 |
| 7 | Gonzaga University | 18,333 | 18,333 | 51,700 | 211 |
| 8 | Walla Walla University | 12,203 | 12,203 | 51,000 | 234 |
| 9 | Central Washington | 6,969 | 6,969 | 45,800 | 265 |
| 10 | Seattle Pacific University | 22,131 | 33,813 | 47,200 | 386 |
| 11 | Seattle University | 19,407 | 36,485 | 52,000 | 393 |
| 12 | Whitworth University | 22,601 | 36,012 | 42,300 | 551 |
| 13 | Pacific Lutheran University | 23,284 | 34,740 | 44,500 | 589 |
| 14 | The Evergreen State College | 8,724 | 8,574 | 40,400 | 670 |
| 15 | Whitman College | 21,334 | 44,800 | 44,000 | 805 |
| 16 | University of Puget Sound | 18,212 | 43,428 | 46,500 | 817 |
Colleges in the top ten of SmartAsset’s “Best Value Colleges” ranking include Stanford University, Harvard University, Princeton University, Columbia University, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Harvey Mudd College, Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus, SUNY Maritime College, Missouri Institute of Science and Technology and Massachussets Institute of Technology, which topped the list, scoring a perfect 100 on the “College Education Value Index.”
Harvey Mudd Coillege in Claremont, California, ranked second, and also ranked first on the ranking of highest average starting salary at $78,500. Also joining the starting salary top list are several institutions of higher learning with the armed forces, including the United States Military Academy, United States Naval Academy and United States Air Force Academy, all of which have average starting salaries higher than $68,800.
By state rankings, Washington scores wll on overall best value, with the following averages:
- Average scholarships and grants: $7,643
- Average starting salary: $47,829
- College tuition: $12,869
- Student living costs: $5,633
- Student retention rate: 73%
See more from the study here.