Best West

Alaska (AK), California (CA), Hawaii (HI), Idaho (ID), Montana (MT), Nevada (NV), Oregon (OR), Utah (UT), Washington (WA), and Wyoming (WY)

For our "2026 Best Colleges: Region by Region" web feature, we salute 631 colleges in seven zones—Northeast, South, Southwest, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, West, and International (outside of the United States)—that we consider academically outstanding and well worth consideration in your college search.

Please note that these lists are not ranked. These lists appear in alphabetical order. Schools marked "featured" have paid a fee for that designation but not for inclusion in this list.


Showing 26 - 50 of 79 results

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Featured Our marketing partner institutions Near Me Sorted by distance from your search location Popularity Sorted by number of views Size Sorted by total enrollment Name Listed in alphabetical order

George Fox University

  • Newberg, OR
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  • 3,358 Full-Time Enrollment

University of California—Davis

  • Davis, CA
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  • 31,162 Full-Time Enrollment

University of Wyoming

  • Laramie, WY
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  • 8,130 Full-Time Enrollment

University of the Pacific

  • Stockton, CA
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  • 3,249 Full-Time Enrollment

Linfield University

  • McMinnville, OR
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  • 1,642 Full-Time Enrollment

University of California—Merced

  • Merced, CA
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  • 8,251 Full-Time Enrollment

California State University, Stanislaus

  • Turlock, CA
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  • 8,455 Full-Time Enrollment

California Polytechnic University, Humboldt

  • Arcata, CA
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  • 5,474 Full-Time Enrollment

Pacific Lutheran University

  • Tacoma, WA
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  • 2,446 Full-Time Enrollment

Saint Mary's College of California

  • Moraga, CA
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  • 2,044 Full-Time Enrollment

University of Puget Sound

  • Tacoma, WA
  • •
  • 1,594 Full-Time Enrollment

Sonoma State University

  • Rohnert Park, CA
  • •
  • 8,565 Full-Time Enrollment

University of California—Berkeley

  • Berkeley, CA
  • •
  • 33,469 Full-Time Enrollment

California State University, East Bay

  • Hayward, CA
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  • 10,582 Full-Time Enrollment

Seattle University

  • Seattle, WA
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  • 4,103 Full-Time Enrollment

University of Washington

  • Seattle, WA
  • •
  • 40,754 Full-Time Enrollment

Evergreen State College

  • Olympia, WA
  • •
  • 2,080 Full-Time Enrollment

University of Washington-Bothell

  • Bothell, WA
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  • 5,659 Full-Time Enrollment

Seattle Pacific University

  • Seattle, WA
  • •
  • 2,428 Full-Time Enrollment

Santa Clara University

  • Santa Clara, CA
  • •
  • 6,577 Full-Time Enrollment

University of San Francisco

  • San Francisco, CA
  • •
  • 5,321 Full-Time Enrollment

Menlo College

  • Atherton, CA
  • •
  • 777 Full-Time Enrollment

Stanford University

  • Stanford, CA
  • •
  • 7,904 Full-Time Enrollment

University of California—Santa Cruz

  • Santa Cruz, CA
  • •
  • 17,940 Full-Time Enrollment

California State University, San Bernardino

  • San Bernardino, CA
  • •
  • 15,785 Full-Time Enrollment

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