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 2016 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 third year in a row. 

“Western’s well-deserved reputation for providing an excellent education – fostered by our caring, dedicated faculty and staff – is reaffirmed every year by our alumni who change the world for the better, as they become leaders in their professions and in communities across our state, region and nation,” said Western President Bruce Shepard.

Western ranked 21st   among the top schools in the West, which includes both public and private schools. That is the same as the previous year.

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