U.S. News Rankings Show WWU as Top Public Master’s-Granting School in Pacific Northwest

Western Washington University is the highest-ranking public, master’s-granting university in the Pacific Northwest, according to the 2019 U.S. News & World Report college rankings. 

Western also ranked second among top public master’s-granting universities in the West, a region stretching from Texas to the Pacific – for the sixth year in a row. 

“Western is committed to fostering a student-centered environment where opportunities for collaboration and hands-on learning experiences prepare graduates to succeed professionally and in their communities.  Many students choose Western because they want to make an impact on the world, and our dedicated faculty and staff are eager to help them acquire the tools to make their ideas come to life.  Combining the learning resources and experiential opportunities of a larger institution with the teaching focus of a college puts Western in a ‘sweet spot’ for a lot of students and families,” said Western President Sabah Randhawa.

Western ranked 19th among the top schools in the West, which includes both public and private schools. The region is comprised of 13 states with a population of 75 million people and 140 colleges and universities. The previous year Western ranked 19th in that category as well.

Western also was ranked as one of the best public schools in the West for veterans.

U.S. News has separate categories for “national” (doctoral-granting or research) universities and liberal arts colleges and for specialties such as business and engineering.

The news magazine’s annual rankings are posted on its website: https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges

Rankings are based on a variety of criteria including academic reputation, student selectivity and retention, faculty resources, peer assessment and financial resources.  

Western also was named one of the Top 100 Values in Public Colleges and Universities by Kiplinger’s Magazine in 2017. Forbes magazine in 2017 named Western to its list of the Nation’s Best Value Colleges.

For more information on Western’s national rankings and recognitions, go to http://www.wwu.edu/about/recognition or contact Western’s Office of Communications and Marketing at (360) 650-3350 or news@wwu.edu.