Why does PNW not have good universities ?? (Seattle, Tacoma: homes, calculated)

[chrish78]

US is the nation of world-renowned institutions and PNW is arguably its most beautiful region. Seattle is the largest tech-hub outside of Silicon Valley and one of the most desirable metros in the country.

However, I can’t wrap my head around the fact that there is literally a dearth of quality universities in this region. There is not a single major private institution. UW is a good public university but there are dozens of public colleges that are consistently ranked higher. Reed is the only other noteworthy place I think of from PNW region. Even “ugly” Midwest has plenty of amazing colleges. Only mid-south (Mississippi, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas) is more backward than PNW when it comes to higher education.

My question is, what is the reason behind this? You would think all the great minds from US and around the world would be flocking here considering the natural beauty of this region. This is not a hate post; I am genuinely curious..

[fnh]

I suspect it has everything to do with the relatively recent settlement of the PNW. Other regions of the country had a century or more of a head start before the PNW was settled and developed.

There are indeed excellent institutions of higher education here. Think Whitman College, University of Puget Sound, Reed College, Lewis & Clark, Willamette etc... in addition to the major land grant universities. These colleges are on par academically with their eastern and midwestern counterparts but nevertheless they lag behind in terms of alumni networking and reputation.

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by chrish78

US is the nation of world-renowned institutions and PNW is arguably its most beautiful region. Seattle is the largest tech-hub outside of Silicon Valley and one of the most desirable metros in the country.

However, I can’t wrap my head around the fact that there is literally a dearth of quality universities in this region. There is not a single major private institution. UW is a good public university but there are dozens of public colleges that are consistently ranked higher. Reed is the only other noteworthy place I think of from PNW region. Even “ugly” Midwest has plenty of amazing colleges. Only mid-south (Mississippi, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas) is more backward than PNW when it comes to higher education.

My question is, what is the reason behind this? You would think all the great minds from US and around the world would be flocking here considering the natural beauty of this region. This is not a hate post; I am genuinely curious..

I see your point but I think you are understating how high UW ranks. https://www.washington.edu/news/2022...-universities/

[pnwguy2]

Nonsensical thread. The U of WA is renowned throughout the world. Washington State is renowned for agricultural instruction study

[rjshae]

The university system in the area is more than sufficient to support the thriving regional economy. In what sense is it lacking? Do we not have a snooty east coast university with two hundred years of history? No, not yet.

[chrish78]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

I see your point but I think you are understating how high UW ranks. https://www.washington.edu/news/2022...-universities/

The same Usnews ranked it at 55 among US universities; while ranking it at 6 globally lol

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges...l-universities

[rjshae]

Originally Posted by chrish78

The same Usnews ranked it at 55 among US universities; while ranking it at 6 globally lol

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges...l-universities

They use different criteria for each list. You're comparing apples and oranges.

https://www.usnews.com/education/bes...es/methodology

https://www.usnews.com/education/bes...d-the-rankings

Like I said, in what sense are they lacking? Ego points?

[Sockeye66]

W T F ?
I'm impressed with the measured response.

[CrazyDonkey]

For public universities, some of it comes to down to the size of the state and how many academic levels it has. The larger the state, the more selective its institutes of higher learning can be.

California:

Private: Stanford (4%), Cal-Tech (4%), USC (14%), LMU (46%), USD (53%), Pepperdine (53%), etc.

The University of California system, with UCLA (11% acceptance rate), UC-Berkeley (14%), UC-Santa Barbara (29%), UC-Irvine (29%), Cal-Poly (33%), UC-SD (34%), UC-Davis (49%), etc.

Other Public Universities: SDSU (38%), LBSU (47%), etc.

Washington:

Private: Whitman College (59%), St. Martins (72%), Gonzaga (76%), Seattle U (82%), PLU (88%), UPS (88%), Whitworth (91%), Seattle Pacific (92%)

Public Universities: UW-Seattle (54%), UW-Bothell (83%), UW-Tacoma (83%), WSU (86%)

Other Universities: CWU (88%), WWU (96%), EWU (97%), Evergreen (99%)

Oregon:

Private: Reed College (44%), Multnomah (59%), Lewis & Clark (79%), Willamette (80%), U of Portland (81%)

Public Universities: OSU (89%), Southern Oregon U (90%), Oregon Tech (91%), Western Oregon U (92%), UO (93%), Eastern Oregon U (98%), Portland State (98%)

[Wile E. Coyote]

Originally Posted by fnh

I suspect it has everything to do with the relatively recent settlement of the PNW. Other regions of the country had a century or more of a head start before the PNW was settled and developed.

There are indeed excellent institutions of higher education here. Think Whitman College, University of Puget Sound, Reed College, Lewis & Clark, Willamette etc... in addition to the major land grant universities. These colleges are on par academically with their eastern and midwestern counterparts but nevertheless they lag behind in terms of alumni networking and reputation.

I was going to say this. Well put. There have not been the economies of scale yet. Only relatively recently has the area been a huge draw of population (since the 90's). People come up from CA to attend our universities here (go figure). I'm not originally from the PNW; I've lived here over 20 years though.