2026 Best Value General Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology Schools in the Far Western Region

[General Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology](/majors/physical-sciences/atmospheric-sciences-meteorology/atmospheric-sciences-and-meteorology-general/) degree programs vary widely in price and payoff across the country. The schools below stand out for delivering a strong general atmospheric sciences & meteorology education at a price that pays off.
College Factual analyzed 8 schools to build this 2026 ranking of the best value general atmospheric sciences & meteorology schools.
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2026 Best Value General Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology Schools in the Far Western Region
Below are the schools that deliver the strongest value in general atmospheric sciences & meteorology, balancing cost against outcomes.
Best Value General Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology Schools
For return on investment in general atmospheric sciences & meteorology, no school beat University Of Washington Seattle Campus this year. Set in the city of Seattle, University Of Washington Seattle Campus is a very large public institution. Expect in-state tuition and fees of around $12,973, compared with $43,209 for out-of-state students. General Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology graduates carry a median of $16,481 in student loans. Soon after graduation, general atmospheric sciences & meteorology degree recipients from University Of Washington Seattle Campus generally make around $65,681. That is a strong return on a $16,481 median debt. University Of Washington Seattle Campus admits about 39% of applicants.
The strong cost-to-outcome balance at University Of California Los Angeles earned it the #2 place for general atmospheric sciences & meteorology. Set in the city of Los Angeles, University Of California Los Angeles is a very large public institution. The average in-state cost of tuition and fees is $14,233, while out-of-state students pay about $46,121. Typical student debt for general atmospheric sciences & meteorology graduates is $16,097. Early-career general atmospheric sciences & meteorology graduates make about $63,833. Weighed against typical debt, the earnings make a compelling case for value. The acceptance rate is 9%.
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Notes and References
The ranking above is published by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. Schools are scored on the balance of cost (tuition and student debt) against student outcomes (post-graduation earnings) — a measure of return on investment, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 8 schools evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 1 ranked schools only.
- 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.