Ranked #15 in popularity, economics is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 10 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Economics Bachelor's Degree Schools in Washington ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 537 bachelor's degrees in economics during the 2022-2023 academic year.
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Choosing a Great Economics School for Your Bachelor's Degree
The economics bachelor'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 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 bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor'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 economics students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of economics students who choose to seek a bachelor'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 easy is it for economics to pay back their student loans after receiving their bachelor's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized economics related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for economics students working on their bachelor's degree.
The economics school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Economics Bachelor's Degree Schools in Washington.
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.
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University of Washington - Seattle Campus is a wonderful decision for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in economics. Located in the large city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Bachelor's recipients from the economics degree program at University of Washington - Seattle Campus get $6,946 above the typical graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
It is hard to beat Washington State University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in economics. Located in the town of Pullman, Wazzu is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the economics program state that they receive average early career income of $39,762.
It is difficult to beat Whitman College if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in economics. Whitman is a small private not-for-profit college located in the small city of Walla Walla.
Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the economics program make about $46,832 for their early career.
Whitworth is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Spokane.
Bachelor's recipients from the economics degree program at Whitworth University make $16,146 above the typical college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
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).
The economics bachelor'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.
