7
Ranked Colleges
760
Degrees Awarded
$19,800
Avg Net Price*
With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its “Best Value IS Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
Information Science is the 58th most popular major in the country with 18,325 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, information science graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $59,394 and had an average of $28,852 in loans still to pay off.
Across the Far Western US region, there were 760 information science graduates with average earnings and debt of $87,566 and $13,956 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value IS Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking looked at 7 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in information science. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent information science programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.
Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the information science program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value IS Schools in the Far Western US Region” list, to help you choose the best school for you.
To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Best Value IS Schools in the Far Western US Region
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value IS Schools in the Far Western US Region.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Washington - Seattle Campus. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value IS Schools in the Far Western US Region. UW Seattle is a public institution located in Seattle, Washington. The school has a large population, and it awarded 212 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at UW Seattle, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Information Science Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Washington - Seattle Campus is $12,017 for Far Western US Region IS students.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.1% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on Information Science at UW Seattle
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value IS Schools in the Far Western US Region list. UC Berkeley is a large public school situated in Berkeley, California. It awarded 373 ’s IS degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at UC Berkeley, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Information Science Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking. It costs about $16,032 for far western us region is students per year to attend UC Berkeley.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on Information Science at UC Berkeley
Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value IS Schools in the Far Western US Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Oregon University landed the #3 spot on the list. Western Oregon State College is a small school located in Monmouth, Oregon that handed out 7 ’s IS degrees in 2020-2021.
Western Oregon State College not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Information Science Schools in the Far Western US Region” list. It costs about $15,214 for Far Western US Region IS students per year to attend Western Oregon State College.
Read more about Information Science at Western Oregon University
Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value IS Schools in the Far Western US Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Hawaii Pacific University landed the #4 spot on the list. Hawaii Pacific University is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Honolulu, Hawaii. It awarded 3 ’s IS degrees in 2020-2021.
Hawaii Pacific University not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Information Science Schools in the Far Western US Region” list. The yearly cost to attend Hawaii Pacific University is $29,484 for far western us region is students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Information Science at Hawaii Pacific University
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Riverside. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value IS Schools in the Far Western US Region. This large school is located in Riverside, California, and it awarded 24 ’s IS degrees in 2020-2021.
UCR also made our “Best Information Science Schools in the Far Western US Region” list, coming in at #5. The estimated yearly cost for UCR is $11,822 for far western us region is students.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full UCR Information Science Report
With a ranking of #6, California Lutheran University did quite well on the 2023 Best Value IS Schools in the Far Western US Region list. CLU is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Thousand Oaks, California. It awarded 21 ’s IS degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our far western us region is students list, CLU has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best Information Science Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking. It costs about $27,410 for far western us region is students per year to attend California Lutheran University.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.7% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read more about Information Science at CLU
With a ranking of #7, California Institute of Technology did quite well on the 2023 Best Value IS Schools in the Far Western US Region list. California Institute of Technology is a private not-for-profit institution located in Pasadena, California. The school has a small population, and it awarded 6 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Caltech also made our “Best Information Science Schools in the Far Western US Region” list, coming in at #3. The yearly cost to attend California Institute of Technology is $26,542 for far western us region is students.
With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.
Read more about Information Science at Caltech
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Notes and References
References
- 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 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).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
- *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
- Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.
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