10 Best Colleges For Jobs In Washington For 2019

One of the biggest things that incoming college freshmen consider when they’re thinking about what school to attend is the likelihood that a school will improve their job prospects.

Jobs are hard to come by nowadays, after all, and the everyday expenses of living in a country like America aren’t cheap.

Compared to a lot of other states, Washington has some unique advantages as far as attending college here goes. There are impressive research universities, quality state schools, and the ability to study majors that will prepare you well for the job market.

All that made us curious — with so many good colleges to attend in WA, which ones, in particular, were most likely to help their graduates land a job? Using data from IPEDS as well as College Scorecard as a baseline, we created this list of some of the best colleges for jobs in Washington.

The full list can be found further down, but first, here’s a look at the top ten best colleges for jobs in Washington:

Gonzaga University
Pacific Lutheran University
Seattle University
University of Puget Sound
Washington State University
University of Washington-Tacoma Campus
University of Washington-Bothell Campus
University of Washington-Seattle Campus
Central Washington University
Western Washington University

If you go to one of these schools, chances are, you’re not surprised. After all, you know how great you have it.

But for the rest of you — keep reading and we’ll get to just why these schools have some of the best programs the state of Washington has to offer.

How We Determined The Best Schools In Washington For Jobs

Using the College Scorecard Data, we searched for the college in each state with the highest listed job placement ratings, looking specifically at employment levels at year 10 after students have graduated.

We limited the analysis to the 44 public and non-profit, four year institutions colleges in Washington that offer at least a bachelors degree.

Then, we ranked each college from best to worst on the percentage of graduates with jobs. For the purposes of readability, each school’s rating was then rounded down to the last two decimal places.

The school with the highest percentage of grads with jobs, Gonzaga University, earned the distinction of being the ‘Best College For Jobs in Washington.’

Best Colleges For Getting A Job In Washington

Rank	College	Employed
1	Gonzaga University	91.73%
2	Pacific Lutheran University	91.33%
3	Seattle University	90.39%
4	University of Puget Sound	90.22%
5	Washington State University	90.11%
6	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus	89.19%
7	University of Washington-Bothell Campus	89.19%
8	University of Washington-Seattle Campus	89.19%
9	Central Washington University	89.12%
10	Western Washington University	89.12%
11	Whitman College	88.82%
12	Eastern Washington University	88.56%
13	Whitworth University-Adult Degree Programs	88.48%
14	Whitworth University	88.48%
15	Seattle Pacific University	88.31%
16	Saint Martin’s University	87.74%
17	Walla Walla University	87.34%
18	Northwest University	85.79%
19	Bastyr University	83.96%
20	Antioch University-Seattle	82.67%
21	Heritage University	82.53%
22	City University of Seattle	82.21%
23	Cornish College of the Arts	82.09%
24	Highline College	81.38%
25	Cascadia College	81.35%
26	Green River College	81.17%
27	Yakima Valley College	81.02%
28	Bellevue College	80.56%
29	Columbia Basin College	80.33%
30	Renton Technical College	79.77%
31	Pierce College-Fort Steilacoom	79.73%
32	The Evergreen State College	79.38%
33	Lake Washington Institute of Technology	78.85%
34	South Seattle College	78.41%
35	Clark College	77.86%
36	Skagit Valley College	77.33%
37	North Seattle College	76.34%
38	Centralia College	75.59%
39	Clover Park Technical College	74.92%
40	Seattle Central College	74.85%
41	Spokane Falls Community College	74.66%
42	Olympic College	73.26%
43	Peninsula College	69.29%
44	Northwest Indian College	57.95%

Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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