For the second year in a row, the University of Washington Bothell has been ranked No. 1 in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest, according to a ranking of best colleges in themost recent issue of Money magazine. Nationally, Money ranked UW Bothell No. 36 in its overall list of best public colleges – up one from No. 37 in 2014. The magazine ranked 736 colleges and universities on 21 measures in three categories: quality, affordability and outcomes.
UW Bothell’s ranking places the institution among some of the most distinguished names in higher education, sitting just behind Brown University, Colgate University and Cornell University and ahead of Bucknell University and Carnegie Mellon.
In the list of the 50 “colleges that add the most value,” UW Bothell is No. 2 among public universities with enrollment of less than 10,000 students. UW Bothell earned a value-added grade of A, which measures how well students perform as measured by graduation rates, student loan defaults and post-grad earnings (compared to schools with similar student profiles).
According to Money, about 35 percent of UW Bothell students come from low-income families, but two-thirds of those students go on to graduate – 12 percentage points better than other schools with similar student profiles. Additionally, UW Bothell graduates earn more than graduates of comparable schools and about half graduate without debt.
In the “50 best colleges that you can actually get into” list, UW Bothell is No. 2.
The University of Washington Seattle campus was ranked No. 56 in the best colleges list with the University of Washington Tacoma campus ranked No. 184.
UW Bothell is unique among the top 40 colleges cited in Money in that 51 percent of students are first generation college students, 58 percent receive financial aid and 91 percent are in-state residents.
“The University of Washington Bothell is an extraordinary financial investment for the state of Washington,” says Chancellor Bjong Wolf Yeigh. “Our students come from all backgrounds; they graduate at higher levels than their peers and then stay and make vital contributions to our economy. The return on taxpayer investment comes directly back to the state of Washington.”
About 90 percent of UW Bothell graduates live and work in the Puget Sound region.
With nearly 5,000 students, UW Bothell is the fastest-growing public university in the state of Washington. The School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics has experienced an 80 percent growth in full-time equivalent students (FTE) over the last two years.
Founded in 1990, the university now has 45 certificate and degree programs and 18,000 alumni.
