by our College Data Analytics TeamHighline College is a public institution in Des Moines, Washington enrolling 3,838 undergraduates. It has an on-time graduation rate of 35%, near the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #826 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 16%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Highline College ranks #826 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 16%.
College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.
Highline College was awarded 83 badges in the 2027 rankings.
Highline is ranked #826 out of 5,159 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 20% of all schools in the nation.
Highline also holds the #27 spot on the Best Colleges in Washington ranking.
See all of the rankings for Highline College.
Learn more about Highline College admissions.
With a student to faculty ratio of 13 to 1, Highline College is about average in this regard as the nationwide rate is 15 to 1. While this does not translate directly to class size, it’s a good indicator of how much time professors will have to spend with their students on a one-on-one basis.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at Highline College is 95%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The on-time graduation rate is the percent of first-time, full-time students who get their bachelor’s degree within four years. At Highline this rate is 35%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Highline College.
The current enrollment includes 3,838 undergraduates at Highline.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Highline College.
The overall average net price of Highline is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $8,984 | $9,689 | $11,209 | $11,455 | $12,378 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Highline, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Highline, approximately 2% of students took out student loans averaging $6,818 a year. That adds up to $27,272 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 10.2%. This is about the same as the national default rate of 10.1%. Get more details about paying for Highline College.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from Highline College make around $47,869 per year during the early years of their employment. This is right on par with the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. Also, graduates in your major field may make more.
See which majors at Highline College make the most money.
Highline College is an public institution found in Des Moines, Washington. Des Moines is a good match for students who enjoy the safety and convenience of the suburbs. Get more details about the location of Highline College.
Contact information for Highline College are listed below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 2400 S 240th St, Des Moines, WA 98198-9800 |
| Phone: | 2068783710 |
| Website: | www.highline.edu |
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 17 majors graduated from Highline College. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 1,055 | NA |
| Liberal Arts General Studies | 406 | $30,948 |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 144 | NA |
| Allied Health Services | 112 | $43,154 |
| Nursing | 62 | $69,653 |
| Business & Commerce | 52 | NA |
| Information Technology | 28 | NA |
| General Biology | 27 | NA |
| Mental & Social Health Services | 25 | NA |
| Health/Medical Admin Services | 22 | NA |
3,996 students took at least one online class at Highline College.
Online courses are a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
Learn more about online learning at Highline College.
Curious how schools stack up against Highline? Compare them side by side using College Combat, our free tool for head-to-head college comparisons.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.