If you plan on getting your master's degree in library & information science, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #38 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 4 schools in the Far Western US Region to determine which ones were the best for library & information science students pursuing a master's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 801 master's degrees in library & information science to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Library & Information Science School for Your Master's Degree
The library science master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality library science program can vary widely even among the top schools. 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 much a school focuses on library & information science students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of library & information science 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 library & information science 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 library & information science related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for library & information science students working on their master's degree.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Library & Information Science Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Library & Information Science in the Far Western US Region
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in library & information science.
Top Far Western US Region Schools for a Master's in Library Science
It's hard to beat San Jose State University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in library & information science. San Jose State is a very large public university located in the large city of San Jose.
Those library & information science students who get their master's degree from San Jose State University receive $4,178 more than the standard library science grad.
Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in library & information science has to check out University of Southern California. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles.
Students who graduate with their master's from the library science program report average early career earnings of $42,614.
It's hard to beat University of Washington - Seattle Campus if you wish to pursue a master's degree in library & information science. Located in the city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Master's students who receive their degree from the library science program earn an average of $41,256 in their early career salary.
University of Hawaii at Manoa is a good decision for individuals interested in a master's degree in library & information science. UH Manoa is a large public university located in the large city of Honolulu.
After graduating, library science master's recipients generally make an average of $45,634 at the beginning of their careers.
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).
college factual
The library science master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality library science program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
