2022 Best Value Colleges for Dance in Washington (With Aid)

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Dance Schools in Washington For Those Getting Aid” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Dance is the 161st most popular major in the country with 3,397 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, dance graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $20,940 and had an average of $26,168 in loans still to pay off.

Across Washington, there were 62 dance graduates with average earnings and debt of $22,000 and $23,500 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Dance Schools in Washington For Those Getting Aid” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in dance. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality dance programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the dance program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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 Value Dance Schools in Washington For Those Getting Aid” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Dance Schools in Washington For Those Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for washington dance students with aid.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Dance in Washington (With Aid)

#1

University of Washington - Seattle Campus

Seattle, Washington

#1 in overall quality

$13,297 Average Net Price

$56,034 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Washington - Seattle Campus. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Dance Schools in Washington For Those Getting Aid list. This large school is located in Seattle, Washington, and it awarded 27 ’s dance degrees in 2019-2020.

UW Seattle did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Dance Schools in Washington” list. The yearly cost to attend UW Seattle is $13,297 for Washington Dance students with aid.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low student loan default rate of 2.2% 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%.

Full University of Washington - Seattle Campus Dance Report

#2

Western Washington University

Bellingham, Washington

#2 in overall quality

$16,529 Average Net Price

$34,178 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Dance Schools in Washington For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Washington University landed the #2 spot on the list. WWU is a fairly large school located in Bellingham, Washington that handed out 9 ’s dance degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our washington dance students with aid list, WWU has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Dance Schools in Washington” ranking. It costs about $16,529 for washington dance students with aid per year to attend WWU.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Dance at WWU

#3

Cornish College of the Arts

Seattle, Washington

#3 in overall quality

$39,078 Average Net Price

$22,460 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Cornish College of the Arts. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Dance Schools in Washington For Those Getting Aid. Cornish College of the Arts is located in Seattle, Washington and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 20 ’s dance degrees to qualified students.

Cornish College of the Arts did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Dance Schools in Washington” list. The estimated yearly cost for Cornish College of the Arts is $39,078 for washington dance students with aid.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Dance at Cornish College of the Arts

• Best Value Colleges for Dance in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)
• Best Value Colleges for Dance (With Aid)

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

Footnotes

• *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.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Jazzart Dance Theatre.

Featured Performing Arts Schools

Request Info

Southern New Hampshire University You have goals. Southern New Hampshire University can help you get there. Whether you need a bachelor's degree to get into a career or want a master's degree to move up in your current career, SNHU has an online program for you. Find your degree from over 200 online programs ... Learn More >