Best Colleges on the West Coast

Best Colleges on the West Coast, ranked by median 10-year earnings. Region: California, Oregon, and Washington. Included states / district: CA OR WA. Median earnings of federally aided former students who are working and not enrolled, 10 years after entry; includes students who did not graduate. “Best” on this page means highest reported earnings, not an overall quality score. Four-year colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online-only schools are excluded. This page lists all 104 colleges in the ranking. Search and filter the list.

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1Stanford UniversityStanford, California4%1553$14k$124k92%7,5544 mi 2Santa Clara UniversitySanta Clara, California48%1426$50k$109k88%6,5529 mi 3Claremont McKenna CollegeClaremont, California10%1527$29k$105k91%1,38834 mi 4West Coast University-Anaheim-Orange CountyAnaheim, California——$33k$103k60%3,19211 mi 5West Coast University-OntarioOntario, California——$50k$103k39%2,67137 mi 6University of Southern CaliforniaLos Angeles, California10%1495$33k$92k92%20,44310 mi 7University of California-BerkeleyBerkeley, California11%—$13k$92k93%33,0682 mi 8California Polytechnic State University-San Luis ObispoSan Luis Obispo, California31%—$17k$91k86%21,9969 mi 9University of San FranciscoSan Francisco, California62%1295$41k$90k70%5,2872 mi 10University of San DiegoSan Diego, California52%—$30k$87k84%5,6713 mi 11University of California-San DiegoLa Jolla, California27%—$12k$85k86%34,9481 mi 12Dominican University of CaliforniaSan Rafael, California84%1290$35k$85k78%1,1141 mi 13Pepperdine UniversityMalibu, California63%1384$58k$83k83%3,5531 mi 14University of PortlandPortland, Oregon89%1277$28k$83k80%2,95746 mi 15University of California-Los AngelesLos Angeles, California9%—$13k$83k93%33,4755 mi 16University of California-DavisDavis, California42%—$15k$81k86%32,25327 mi 17University of California-IrvineIrvine, California29%—$14k$81k87%30,1974 mi 18San Jose State UniversitySan Jose, California85%—$14k$79k69%27,60112 mi 19Gonzaga UniversitySpokane, Washington82%1335$35k$79k86%5,198224 mi 20Saint Mary's College of CaliforniaMoraga, California87%—$30k$79k70%1,9478 mi 21Linfield UniversityMcMinnville, Oregon85%—$27k$79k70%1,62137 mi 22University of Washington-Seattle CampusSeattle, Washington39%—$14k$78k85%31,9423 mi 23University of Washington-Bothell CampusBothell, Washington91%—$12k$78k65%5,4579 mi 24University of Washington-Tacoma CampusTacoma, Washington83%—$10k$78k63%4,1851 mi 25University of the PacificStockton, California71%1346$25k$78k69%3,2047 mi 26Loyola Marymount UniversityLos Angeles, California45%1359$48k$78k79%7,0942 mi 27Pomona CollegeClaremont, California7%1534$19k$78k93%1,66633 mi 28Scripps CollegeClaremont, California38%1492$36k$78k83%1,11334 mi 29Occidental CollegeLos Angeles, California44%1452$38k$76k81%1,87718 mi 30Seattle UniversitySeattle, Washington77%1307$35k$75k76%4,0621 mi 31University of California-Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, California33%—$16k$75k83%23,113< 1 mi 32University of RedlandsRedlands, California83%1241$30k$73k67%2,04951 mi 33Mount Saint Mary's UniversityLos Angeles, California73%—$21k$72k53%1,7195 mi 34Oregon Institute of TechnologyKlamath Falls, Oregon95%1150$16k$72k54%2,892126 mi 35Art Center College of DesignPasadena, California75%—$49k$72k79%2,01721 mi 36California State Polytechnic University-PomonaPomona, California75%—$12k$72k68%25,04227 mi 37California State University-East BayHayward, California97%—$9k$71k48%9,8096 mi 38Chapman UniversityOrange, California65%1357$47k$70k82%7,47813 mi 39University of Puget SoundTacoma, Washington72%1296$38k$70k68%1,5941 mi 40Pitzer CollegeClaremont, California25%—$34k$70k83%1,22734 mi 41City University of SeattleSeattle, Washington———$69k—1,137< 1 mi 42Washington State UniversityPullman, Washington87%—$15k$69k61%21,099247 mi 43California Lutheran UniversityThousand Oaks, California76%1266$30k$69k70%2,29613 mi 44University of California-Santa CruzSanta Cruz, California66%—$18k$68k75%17,9403 mi 45San Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco, California96%—$12k$68k50%18,6392 mi 46University of California-RiversideRiverside, California76%—$14k$68k76%22,59340 mi 47Whitman CollegeWalla Walla, Washington38%1410$33k$68k81%1,531209 mi 48National UniversitySan Diego, California——$23k$68k43%10,7948 mi 49Pacific Lutheran UniversityTacoma, Washington78%1168$20k$67k69%2,4018 mi 50Azusa Pacific UniversityAzusa, California88%1195$22k$67k62%2,75930 mi 51Sonoma State UniversityRohnert Park, California93%—$13k$66k58%5,16616 mi 52University of Massachusetts GlobalAliso Viejo, California——$33k$66k43%4,4915 mi 53University of La VerneLa Verne, California71%1083$20k$65k63%3,05031 mi 54Concordia University-IrvineIrvine, California66%—$28k$65k58%1,5366 mi 55San Diego State UniversitySan Diego, California36%—$15k$65k76%35,3777 mi 56California State University-SacramentoSacramento, California94%—$9k$65k56%28,35032 mi 57Westmont CollegeSanta Barbara, California77%1328$29k$65k70%1,3022 mi 58Seattle Pacific UniversitySeattle, Washington83%—$24k$65k62%1,7622 mi 59California State University-Long BeachLong Beach, California46%—$10k$64k69%35,9243 mi 60University of California-MercedMerced, California91%—$12k$64k69%8,37271 mi 61California State University-ChicoChico, California93%—$14k$64k63%13,631103 mi 62Oregon State UniversityCorvallis, Oregon77%1290$20k$64k70%30,74336 mi 63Oregon State University-Cascades CampusBend, Oregon63%1255$18k$64k56%1,044135 mi 64Point Loma Nazarene UniversitySan Diego, California84%1287$39k$64k77%3,188< 1 mi 65California State University-StanislausTurlock, California98%—$6k$63k53%8,38546 mi 66California State University-FullertonFullerton, California91%—$7k$63k70%38,54616 mi 67Reed CollegePortland, Oregon25%1437$33k$63k71%1,32054 mi 68California State University-San MarcosSan Marcos, California95%—$10k$63k55%14,87710 mi 69Western Washington UniversityBellingham, Washington93%1289$21k$63k65%13,5441 mi 70Lewis & Clark CollegePortland, Oregon78%—$36k$62k75%2,12055 mi 71California State University-Channel IslandsCamarillo, California95%—$10k$62k51%5,0135 mi 72Stanbridge UniversityIrvine, California10%—$45k$62k62%2,6436 mi 73Saint Martin's UniversityLacey, Washington90%1093$28k$62k52%1,1584 mi 74Walla Walla UniversityCollege Place, Washington——$23k$62k60%1,252207 mi 75La Sierra UniversityRiverside, California92%—$46k$62k60%1,11630 mi 76Central Washington UniversityEllensburg, Washington91%—$18k$62k54%7,83388 mi 77California Baptist UniversityRiverside, California85%—$26k$62k62%8,17934 mi 78University of OregonEugene, Oregon88%1272$22k$61k72%20,49752 mi 79California State University-FresnoFresno, California95%—$7k$61k57%21,605112 mi 80Pacific UniversityForest Grove, Oregon90%1090$35k$61k67%1,51638 mi 81California State University-San BernardinoSan Bernardino, California94%—$5k$60k55%15,02352 mi 82George Fox UniversityNewberg, Oregon94%1197$32k$60k72%2,69946 mi 83Vanguard University of Southern CaliforniaCosta Mesa, California62%—$21k$60k57%1,9334 mi 84California State University-Monterey BaySeaside, California97%—$14k$59k59%6,8192 mi 85California State University-Los AngelesLos Angeles, California91%—$4k$59k53%19,56218 mi 86California State University-NorthridgeNorthridge, California93%—$7k$59k57%32,69114 mi 87California State University-BakersfieldBakersfield, California94%—$6k$59k50%8,57770 mi 88Fresno Pacific UniversityFresno, California64%—$14k$59k50%1,544110 mi 89Whitworth UniversitySpokane, Washington90%1220$27k$59k71%1,858222 mi 90Otis College of Art and DesignLos Angeles, California82%1310$51k$58k66%1,2232 mi 91Portland State UniversityPortland, Oregon91%—$10k$58k53%13,18251 mi 92Eastern Washington UniversityCheney, Washington91%—$14k$58k43%6,222217 mi 93California State University-Dominguez HillsCarson, California93%—$9k$57k43%12,5387 mi 94The Master's University and SeminarySanta Clarita, California84%—$33k$57k68%1,62224 mi 95Willamette UniversitySalem, Oregon77%1377$25k$57k71%1,59248 mi 96Biola UniversityLa Mirada, California74%1261$31k$57k68%3,47413 mi

US Department of Education College Scorecard and IPEDS. Missing or suppressed values are excluded. A ranking is a comparison of the named measure, not an overall quality score.