2024 Best Geological & Earth Sciences Master's Degree Schools in Washington

If you plan on getting your master's degree in geological & earth sciences, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #82 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 3 schools in Washington to determine which ones were the best for geological & earth sciences students pursuing a master's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 40 master's degrees in geological & earth sciences during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Geological & Earth Sciences School for Your Master's Degree

The geology 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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

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.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

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 geological & earth sciences students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other geological & earth sciences students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• 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 geological & earth sciences 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 geological & earth sciences related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for geological & earth sciences students working on their master's degree.

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 Geological & Earth Sciences Master's Degree Schools in Washington list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Geological & Earth Sciences in Washington

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in geological & earth sciences.

Top Washington Schools for a Master's in Geology

1

University of Washington - Seattle Campus
Seattle, WA

23 Annual Graduates

University of Washington - Seattle Campus is a great choice for individuals pursuing a master's degree in geological & earth sciences. Located in the large city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in geological & earth sciences from University of Washington - Seattle Campus

2

Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA

8 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat Western Washington University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in geological & earth sciences. WWU is a fairly large public university located in the city of Bellingham.More information about a master’s in geological & earth sciences from Western Washington University

3

Central Washington University
Ellensburg, WA

6 Annual Graduates

Central Washington University is a good option for individuals pursuing a master's degree in geological & earth sciences. Located in the town of Ellensburg, CWU is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in geological & earth sciences from Central Washington University

3

Washington State University
Pullman, WA

3 Annual Graduates

Washington State University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in geological & earth sciences. Located in the distant town of Pullman, Wazzu is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in geological & earth sciences from Washington State University

Best Geological & Earth Sciences Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Geological & Earth Sciences Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
California	253	214
Oregon	158	26
Nevada	105	15
Hawaii	85	16
Alaska	52	14

View All Rankings >

Geological & Earth Sciences Related Rankings by Major

One of 8 majors within the Physical Sciences area of study, Geological & Earth Sciences has other similar majors worth exploring.

Geology Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Geology & Earth Sciences	31
Chemical & Physical Oceanography	9

Majors Similar to Geology

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Physics	40
Chemistry	36
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology	14
Astronomy & Astrophysics	3

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 Kelvinsong. More about our data sources and methodologies.