As many high school seniors and their parents are thinking about college with application deadlines approaching, choosing the best college can be a hard decision.
A recent nationwide study has rated the top colleges and universities across the country, as well as naming the top 10 schools in Washington state, four of which are located in Eastern Washington. They include Whitman College in first place, Gonzaga University in third place, followed by Washington State University in fifth place and Central Washington University in 10th place.
WalletHub, a personal finance website, evaluated 913 colleges across the country across seven main factors: education outcomes, career outcomes, student selectivity, cost and financing, campus safety, faculty resources and campus experience.
In first place as the top school in the United States was Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
MIT was followed by Yale University, California Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Harvard University, Stanford University, Rice University, University of Pennsylvania, Georgia Institute of Technology and Duke University in the top 10 schools.
All schools in the top 10 rankings scored closely across all seven factors and total ranking score.
No Washington state college or university placed in WalletHub's top 30 rankings.
WalletHub also compared schools across Washington state by the same seven factors to determine which schools were in the top 10. Eastern Washington ranked highly, having two of the top three schools in its area.
Rated as the top school in Washington state was Whitman College, according to a news release from Diana Polk, WalletHub's communications manager. The Washington state school rankings were released through an emailed news release, not on WalletHub's website.
Following Whitman College was the University of Washington, Gonzaga University, Seattle University, Washington State University, Whitworth University, Saint Martin's University, Western Washington University, Seattle Pacific University, and in 10th place, Central Washington University. Four of the top 10 schools in the state were found in Eastern Washington.
The news release compared the top three schools in Washington across seven evaluating factors:
Whitman College ranked:
• Second in admission rate.
• 13th in net cost
• First in student-faculty ratio
• Eighth in on-campus crime
• Eighth in gender and racial diversity
• First in graduation rate
• Fifth in post-attendance median salary
University of Washington ranked:
• First in admission rate
• Ninth in net cost
• 13th in student-faculty ratio
• Ninth in on-campus crime
• First in gender and racial diversity
• Third in graduation rate
• Third in post-attendance median salary
Gonzaga University ranked:
• Fourth in admission rate
• 11th in net cost
• Second in student-faculty ratio
• Seventh in on-campus crime
• 13th in gender and racial diversity
• Second in graduation rate
• First in post-attendance median salary
