A degree in physics is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #68 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 7 schools in Washington to determine which ones were the best for physics students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 323 degrees in physics to qualified students.
Your choice of physics school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Physics School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Physics Schools in Washington list, to help you choose the best school for you.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
The schools below may not offer all types of physics degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.
University of Washington - Seattle Campus is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in physics. Located in the city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #44 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UW Seattle is a great university overall.
There were approximately 209 physics students who graduated with this degree at UW Seattle in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the physics program make an average of $41,474 for their early career.
It's hard to beat Whitworth University if you want to pursue a degree in physics. Whitworth is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Spokane. This university ranks 18th out of 50 colleges for overall quality in the state of Washington.
There were approximately 16 physics students who graduated with this degree at Whitworth in the most recent data year.
It is hard to beat Washington State University if you want to pursue a degree in physics. Located in the distant town of Pullman, Wazzu is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #182 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Wazzu is a great university overall.
There were roughly 21 physics students who graduated with this degree at Wazzu in the most recent year we have data available.
Western Washington University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in physics. WWU is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Bellingham. A Best Colleges rank of #287 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means WWU is a great university overall.
There were about 16 physics students who graduated with this degree at WWU in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the suburb of Tacoma, PLU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 9th out of 50 schools for overall quality in the state of Washington.
There were approximately 8 physics students who graduated with this degree at PLU in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the town of Ellensburg, CWU is a public university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 6th out of 50 colleges for overall quality in the state of Washington.
There were roughly 12 physics students who graduated with this degree at CWU in the most recent year we have data available.
UW Bothell is a moderately-sized public university located in the large suburb of Bothell. This university ranks 50th out of 50 colleges for overall quality in the state of Washington.
There were roughly 13 physics students who graduated with this degree at UW Bothell in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the physics program earn about $41,474 for their early career.
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 A. T. Service.
Your choice of physics school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Physics School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
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