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 51 - 75 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

California Institute of the Arts

  • Valencia, CA
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  • 888 Full-Time Enrollment

University of Redlands

  • Redlands, CA
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  • 2,159 Full-Time Enrollment

Pitzer College

  • Claremont, CA
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  • 1,242 Full-Time Enrollment

Pomona College

  • Claremont, CA
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  • 1,766 Full-Time Enrollment

Scripps College

  • Claremont, CA
  • •
  • 1,117 Full-Time Enrollment

Claremont McKenna College

  • Claremont, CA
  • •
  • 1,390 Full-Time Enrollment

Harvey Mudd College

  • Claremont, CA
  • •
  • 921 Full-Time Enrollment

University of La Verne

  • La Verne, CA
  • •
  • 2,414 Full-Time Enrollment

Azusa Pacific University

  • Azusa, CA
  • •
  • 4,485 Full-Time Enrollment

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

  • Pomona, CA
  • •
  • 25,255 Full-Time Enrollment

University of California—Riverside

  • Riverside, CA
  • •
  • 22,599 Full-Time Enrollment

California Institute of Technology

  • Pasadena, CA
  • •
  • 987 Full-Time Enrollment

Occidental College

  • Los Angeles, CA
  • •
  • 1,881 Full-Time Enrollment

Thomas Aquinas College (CA)

  • Santa Paula, CA
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  • 372 Full-Time Enrollment

Whittier College

  • Whittier, CA
  • •
  • 765 Full-Time Enrollment

University of California—Los Angeles

  • Los Angeles, CA
  • •
  • 33,471 Full-Time Enrollment

University of Southern California

  • Los Angeles, CA
  • •
  • 21,023 Full-Time Enrollment

Biola University

  • La Mirada, CA
  • •
  • 3,481 Full-Time Enrollment

Otis College of Art and Design

  • Los Angeles, CA
  • •
  • 1,224 Full-Time Enrollment

University of California—Santa Barbara

  • Santa Barbara, CA
  • •
  • 23,181 Full-Time Enrollment

Chapman University

  • Orange, CA
  • •
  • 7,713 Full-Time Enrollment

Pepperdine University

  • Malibu, CA
  • •
  • 3,553 Full-Time Enrollment

California State University, Long Beach

  • Long Beach, CA
  • •
  • 31,447 Full-Time Enrollment

University of California—Irvine

  • Irvine, CA
  • •
  • 30,204 Full-Time Enrollment

University of California—San Diego

  • La Jolla, CA
  • •
  • 34,955 Full-Time Enrollment

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