Best Geoscientist programs in Washington, ranked by enrollment
Study the composition, structure, and other physical aspects of the Earth.
8 schools in Washington run programs that feed this job, graduating 394 people a year. The job pays a median of $105,020 in Washington across about 840 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.
5 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 | Geology/Earth Science, Generalmain feeder CIP 40.0601In Washington → | 257 | 65.2% | 8 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
| 2 | CIP 40.0699In Washington → | 58 | 14.7% | 4 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
| 3 | Oceanography, Chemical and Physicalmain feeder CIP 40.0607In Washington → | 39 | 9.9% | 1 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
| 4 | CIP 30.3201In Washington → | 24 | 6.1% | 1 | $27,337 | $22,400 |
| 5 | Geophysics and Seismologymain feeder CIP 40.0603In Washington → | 16 | 4.1% | 2 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
Top 8 schools in Washington
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 4 of the 8 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington State University Pullman, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 127 | Geology/Earth Science, General | $33,178 | 60% | — | 87% |
| 2 | University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA Public · 4 feeder programs | 90 | Oceanography, Chemical and Physical | $29,724 | 85% | — | 39% |
| 3 | Western Washington University Bellingham, WA Public · 3 feeder programs | 75 | Geology/Earth Science, General | $36,802 | 65% | — | 93% |
| 4 | Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA Public · 2 feeder programs | 36 | Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences, Other | — | 43% | — | 91% |
| 5 | Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA Public · 2 feeder programs | 30 | Geology/Earth Science, General | — | 54% | — | 91% |
| 6 | Whitman College Walla Walla, WA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 21 | Geology/Earth Science, General | — | 81% | $28,508 | 38% |
| 7 | University of Washington - Bothell Campus Bothell, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Geology/Earth Science, General | $29,724 | 65% | — | 91% |
| 8 | Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Geology/Earth Science, General | — | 69% | $19,944 | 78% |
All 8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington State University | Pullman | Public | 127 | 1 |
| University of Washington - Seattle Campus | Seattle | Public | 90 | 4 |
| Western Washington University | Bellingham | Public | 75 | 3 |
| Eastern Washington University | Cheney | Public | 36 | 2 |
| Central Washington University | Ellensburg | Public | 30 | 2 |
| Whitman College | Walla Walla | Private not-for-profit | 21 | 2 |
| University of Washington - Bothell Campus | Bothell | Public | 8 | 1 |
| Pacific Lutheran University | Tacoma | Private not-for-profit | 7 | 1 |
What geoscientists earn in Washington
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $101,920. Washington pays above 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 Geoscientists page.
How to become a Geoscientist
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or 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 12 majors mapped to Geoscientists11 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 30.3201Marine Sciences
- 30.3801Earth Systems Science
- 30.4101Environmental Geosciences
- 30.4201Geoarcheaology
- 30.4301Geobiology
- 40.0601Geology/Earth Science, General
- 40.0602Geochemistry
- 40.0603Geophysics and Seismology
- 40.0604Paleontology
- 40.0606Geochemistry and Petrology(no graduates reported)
- 40.0607Oceanography, Chemical and Physical
- 40.0699Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing geoscientists programs in Washington.
What degree do you need to become a Geoscientist?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Geology/Earth Science, General, which awarded 257 degrees in Washington in 2024-25, 65.2% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Geoscientist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences, Marine Sciences. Together they graduate about 394 people a year in Washington.
How much do geoscientists earn in Washington?+
The median is $105,020 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 3.0% above the U.S. median of $101,920. 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 geoscientists growing?+
BLS projects a +3.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 2,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Washington?+
8 institutions in Washington reported graduates from at least one of the 5 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 geoscientists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Geologist, Geophysicist, Geoscientist, Project Geologist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-2042.
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
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card