2024 Best Accounting Master's Degree Schools in Washington

Ranked #10 in popularity, accounting is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual looked at 8 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Accounting Master's Degree Schools in Washington ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 159 master's degrees in accounting during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Accounting School for Your Master's Degree

The accounting master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to accounting students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of accounting students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How much debt accounting students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized accounting related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for accounting students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Accounting Master's Degree Schools in Washington ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

 

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Accounting in Washington

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in accounting.

Top Washington Schools for a Master's in Accounting

1

University of Washington - Seattle Campus
Seattle, WA

56 Annual Graduates

$65,681 Median Starting Salary

University of Washington - Seattle Campus is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in accounting. Located in the large city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public university with a very large student population.

Soon after graduating, accounting master's recipients usually make an average of $65,681 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in accounting from University of Washington - Seattle Campus

2

Gonzaga University
Spokane, WA

24 Annual Graduates

$62,156 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in accounting has to take a look at Gonzaga University. Located in the medium-sized city of Spokane, Gonzaga is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the accounting program report average early career income of $62,156.

More information about a master’s in accounting from Gonzaga University

3

Seattle University
Seattle, WA

20 Annual Graduates

Seattle University is a great choice for students interested in a master's degree in accounting. Seattle U is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Seattle.More information about a master’s in accounting from Seattle University

4

Eastern Washington University
Cheney, WA

34 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat Eastern Washington University if you want to pursue a master's degree in accounting. Located in the fringe town of Cheney, EWU is a public university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in accounting from Eastern Washington University

5

Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA

2 Annual Graduates

WWU is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Bellingham.More information about a master’s in accounting from Western Washington University

6

Saint Martin's University
Lacey, WA

3 Annual Graduates

Saint Martin's is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Lacey.More information about a master’s in accounting from Saint Martin’s University

6

Central Washington University
Ellensburg, WA

Located in the town of Ellensburg, CWU is a public university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a master’s in accounting from Central Washington University

7

City University of Seattle
Seattle, WA

Located in the large city of Seattle, CityU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a master’s in accounting from City University of Seattle

8

University of Washington - Bothell Campus
Bothell, WA

19 Annual Graduates

$65,681 Median Starting Salary

UW Bothell is a medium-sized public university located in the suburb of Bothell.

Soon after graduating, accounting master's recipients usually earn an average of $65,681 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a master’s in accounting from University of Washington - Bothell Campus

Best Accounting Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Accounting Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
California	253	824
Oregon	158	39
Nevada	105	73
Hawaii	85	22

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Accounting

Accounting is one of 21 different types of Business, Management & Marketing programs to choose from.

Accounting Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Accounting	84
Auditing	56
Accounting and Finance	19

Most Popular Majors Related to Accounting

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Business Administration & Management	1,452
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	218
Taxation	76
General Business/Commerce	67
Entrepreneurial Studies	23
Human Resource Management	5
International Business	1

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Pixabay. More about our data sources and methodologies.