The University of Washington is a public institution that was founded in 1861. The school's oldest and largest campus in terms of enrollment is located in Seattle – the largest city in Washington. In 1990, the university added two smaller campuses in Bothell and Tacoma, Washington. Around 70 percent of the university's students – across all three campuses – study at the undergraduate level. Still, the large university offers more than 370 graduate-level programs. Tuition costs are higher for non-Washington-state residents, and university housing is available for both undergraduate and graduate students. UW utilizes a quarter-based academic calendar, and English is the language of instruction.
The university has 16 colleges and schools that offer studies in a range of subjects, such as arts and sciences, engineering and social work. Its highly ranked graduate schools include the School of Medicine, School of Nursing and the College of Education. The University of Washington Medical Center, a teaching hospital, is highly ranked in several specialties. The university offers a community-based medical education program that allows students to complete clinical rotations in different states throughout the region - Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming. One goal of the program is to increase the number of primary care physicians, particularly in rural areas. Research awards received by UW have topped $1 billion in recent years, and the school has more than 280 specialized research centers. Among these research centers are the West Coast Poverty Center, the Polar Science Center and the Center for Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases.
University Data
Total number of students
47,727
Number of international students
8,471
Total number of academic staff
4,427
Number of international staff
749
Number of undergraduate degrees awarded
8,202
Number of master's degrees awarded
4,349
Number of doctoral degrees awarded
1,437
Number of research only staff
2,174
Number of new undergraduate students
8,854
Number of new master's students
3,817
Number of new doctoral students
2,102
Rankings
University of Washington Seattle is ranked #6 in Best Global Universities. Schools are ranked according to their performance across a set of widely accepted indicators of excellence. Read more about how we rank schools.