Best Database Architect programs in Washington, ranked by enrollment
Design strategies for enterprise databases, data warehouse systems, and multidimensional networks. Set standards for database operations, programming, query processes, and security.
49 schools in Washington run programs that feed this job, graduating 4,597 people a year. The job pays a median of $128,760 in Washington across about 2,990 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Washington that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
12 programs in Washington that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Washington (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Washington page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 11.0701In Washington → | 2,044 | 44.5% | 34 | $70,374 | $23,250 |
| 2 | CIP 11.0101In Washington → | 670 | 14.6% | 8 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 3 | CIP 11.1003In Washington → | 662 | 14.4% | 18 | $48,185 | $25,250 |
| 4 | CIP 11.0103In Washington → | 545 | 11.9% | 10 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 5 | CIP 11.0401In Washington → | 379 | 8.2% | 1 | $57,313 | $25,833 |
| 6 | CIP 14.0901In Washington → | 86 | 1.9% | 9 | $78,333 | $24,098 |
| 7 | CIP 30.7001In Washington → | 64 | 1.4% | 4 | — | — |
| 8 | CIP 11.0802In Washington → | 53 | 1.2% | 4 | $33,504 | $27,000 |
| 9 | CIP 14.0903In Washington → | 28 | 0.6% | 2 | $78,333 | $24,098 |
| 10 | CIP 11.0902In Washington → | 24 | 0.5% | 2 | $43,901 | $22,822 |
| 11 | CIP 52.1201In Washington → | 24 | 0.5% | 2 | $59,352 | $24,618 |
| 12 | CIP 30.7099In Washington → | 18 | 0.4% | 1 | — | — |
Top 25 schools in Washington
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 16 of the 49 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA Public · 5 feeder programs | 1,353 | Computer Science | $128,887 | 85% | — | 39% |
| 2 | University of Washington - Tacoma Campus Tacoma, WA Public · 5 feeder programs | 433 | Computer and Information Sciences, General | $73,385 | 63% | — | 83% |
| 3 | University of Washington - Bothell Campus Bothell, WA Public · 4 feeder programs | 368 | Computer Science | $128,887 | 65% | — | 91% |
| 4 | Washington State University Pullman, WA Public · 5 feeder programs | 298 | Computer Science | $79,519 | 60% | — | 87% |
| 5 | Seattle University Seattle, WA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 282 | Computer Science | $85,285 | 76% | $31,900 | 77% |
| 6 | Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA Public · 3 feeder programs | 275 | Information Technology | $56,049 | 54% | — | 91% |
| 7 | Western Washington University Bellingham, WA Public · 5 feeder programs | 204 | Computer and Information Sciences, General | $68,219 | 65% | — | 93% |
| 8 | Bellevue College Bellevue, WA Public · 3 feeder programs | 130 | Computer Science | $73,214 | 36% | — | — |
| 9 | Clover Park Technical College Lakewood, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 118 | Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance | $41,752 | 43% | — | — |
| 10 | Edmonds College Lynnwood, WA Public · 3 feeder programs | 114 | Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance | — | 29% | — | — |
| 11 | Green River College Auburn, WA Public · 2 feeder programs | 101 | Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance | — | 39% | — | — |
| 12 | Columbia Basin College Pasco, WA Public · 3 feeder programs | 99 | Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance | $59,559 | 33% | — | — |
| 13 | Saint Martin's University Lacey, WA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 79 | Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance | — | 52% | $22,131 | 90% |
| 14 | Gonzaga University Spokane, WA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 69 | Computer Science | $76,636 | 86% | $30,006 | 82% |
| 15 | Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 60 | Computer and Information Sciences, General | $67,004 | 43% | — | 91% |
| 16 | City University of Seattle Seattle, WA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 59 | Computer Science | — | — | $35,049 | — |
| 17 | Clark College Vancouver, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 54 | Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance | — | 39% | — | — |
| 18 | Tacoma Community College Tacoma, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 51 | Computer Science | — | 32% | — | — |
| 19 | North Seattle College Seattle, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 42 | Computer Science | — | 33% | — | — |
| 20 | Renton Technical College Renton, WA Public · 3 feeder programs | 38 | Computer Science | — | 46% | — | — |
| 21 | Seattle Pacific University Seattle, WA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 36 | Computer Science | $82,557 | 62% | $24,653 | 83% |
| 22 | Highline College Des Moines, WA Public · 3 feeder programs | 28 | Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance | — | 35% | — | — |
| 23 | Shoreline College Shoreline, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Computer Science | — | 29% | — | — |
| 24 | Whitworth University Spokane, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Computer Science | $62,139 | 71% | $23,510 | 90% |
| 25 | Spokane Falls Community College Spokane, WA Public · 2 feeder programs | 24 | Computer Science | — | 32% | — | — |
All 49 schools in Washington
Every school in Washington with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Washington - Seattle Campus | Seattle | Public | 1,353 | 5 |
| University of Washington - Tacoma Campus | Tacoma | Public | 433 | 5 |
| University of Washington - Bothell Campus | Bothell | Public | 368 | 4 |
| Washington State University | Pullman | Public | 298 | 5 |
| Seattle University | Seattle | Private not-for-profit | 282 | 3 |
| Central Washington University | Ellensburg | Public | 275 | 3 |
| Western Washington University | Bellingham | Public | 204 | 5 |
| Bellevue College | Bellevue | Public | 130 | 3 |
| Clover Park Technical College | Lakewood | Public | 118 | 1 |
| Edmonds College | Lynnwood | Public | 114 | 3 |
| Green River College | Auburn | Public | 101 | 2 |
| Columbia Basin College | Pasco | Public | 99 | 3 |
| Saint Martin's University | Lacey | Private not-for-profit | 79 | 4 |
| Gonzaga University | Spokane | Private not-for-profit | 69 | 2 |
| Eastern Washington University | Cheney | Public | 60 | 1 |
What database architects earn in Washington
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $139,500. Washington pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: Washington employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Washington
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Database Architects page.
How to become a Database Architect
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- Work experience needed
- Less than 5 years
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Washington
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 14 majors mapped to Database Architects14 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 11.0101Computer and Information Sciences, General
- 11.0103Information Technology
- 11.0401Information Science/Studies
- 11.0501Computer Systems Analysis/Analyst
- 11.0701Computer Science
- 11.0802Data Modeling/Warehousing and Database Administration
- 11.0902Cloud Computing
- 11.1003Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance
- 14.0901Computer Engineering, General
- 14.0903Computer Software Engineering
- 14.2701Systems Engineering
- 30.7001Data Science, General
- 30.7099Data Science, Other
- 52.1201Management Information Systems, General
Common questions
Answers for people weighing database architects programs in Washington.
What degree do you need to become a Database Architect?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Computer Science, which awarded 2,044 degrees in Washington in 2024-25, 44.5% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Database Architect?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 12 programs to this occupation. The largest are Computer Science, Computer and Information Sciences, Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management, Information Science/Studies, plus 5 more. Together they graduate about 4,597 people a year in Washington.
How much do database architects earn in Washington?+
The median is $128,760 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 7.7% below the U.S. median of $139,500. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for database architects growing?+
BLS projects a +8.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 4,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Washington?+
49 institutions in Washington reported graduates from at least one of the 12 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do database architects work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Database Analyst, Database Developer, Database Programmer, Information Architect, Data Warehouse Analyst, Data Warehouse Solution Architect among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 15-1243.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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