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

Harvey Mudd College

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

University of La Verne

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

San Diego State University

  • San Diego, CA
  • •
  • 36,196 Full-Time Enrollment

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

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

University of California—San Diego

  • La Jolla, CA
  • •
  • 35,442 Full-Time Enrollment

Azusa Pacific University

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

University of San Diego

  • San Diego, CA
  • •
  • 6,049 Full-Time Enrollment

Chapman University

  • Orange, CA
  • •
  • 7,630 Full-Time Enrollment

University of California—Irvine

  • Irvine, CA
  • •
  • 30,260 Full-Time Enrollment

Whittier College

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

California Institute of Technology

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

Biola University

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

Occidental College

  • Los Angeles, CA
  • •
  • 1,822 Full-Time Enrollment

California State University, Long Beach

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

University of Southern California

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

California Institute of the Arts

  • Valencia, CA
  • •
  • 888 Full-Time Enrollment

University of California—Los Angeles

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

Loyola Marymount University

  • Los Angeles, California
  • •
  • 7,187 Full-Time Enrollment

Otis College of Art and Design

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

University of Washington-Bothell

  • Bothell, WA
  • •
  • 5,753 Full-Time Enrollment

Pepperdine University

  • Malibu, CA
  • •
  • 3,459 Full-Time Enrollment

University of Washington

  • Seattle, Washington
  • •
  • 40,996 Full-Time Enrollment

Seattle University

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

Thomas Aquinas College (CA)

  • Santa Paula, CA
  • •
  • 369 Full-Time Enrollment

Seattle Pacific University

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

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