Best Life Scientist, All Other programs in Washington, ranked by enrollment
All life scientists not listed.
34 schools in Washington run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,686 people a year. The job pays a median of $100,420 in Washington across about 240 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.
6 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 26.0101In Washington → | 1,346 | 79.8% | 33 | $32,152 | $25,000 |
| 2 | CIP 30.1901In Washington → | 188 | 11.2% | 4 | $30,508 | $24,586 |
| 3 | CIP 30.1701In Washington → | 94 | 5.6% | 3 | $36,206 | $29,240 |
| 4 | CIP 26.1399In Washington → | 40 | 2.4% | 1 | $29,460 | $23,480 |
| 5 | CIP 26.1301In Washington → | 11 | 0.7% | 1 | $29,460 | $23,480 |
| 6 | CIP 26.9999In Washington → | 7 | 0.4% | 2 | $31,278 | $23,000 |
Top 25 schools in Washington
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 14 of the 34 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 · 4 feeder programs | 453 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $38,716 | 85% | — | 39% |
| 2 | Washington State University Pullman, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 247 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $36,290 | 60% | — | 87% |
| 3 | Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA Public · 2 feeder programs | 112 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $33,793 | 43% | — | 91% |
| 4 | University of Washington - Bothell Campus Bothell, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 97 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $38,716 | 65% | — | 91% |
| 5 | Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA Public · 3 feeder programs | 90 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $36,401 | 54% | — | 91% |
| 6 | Gonzaga University Spokane, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 87 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $30,819 | 86% | $30,006 | 82% |
| 7 | Western Washington University Bellingham, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 65 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $33,871 | 65% | — | 93% |
| 8 | Clark College Vancouver, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 51 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 39% | — | — |
| 9 | Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 50 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $36,766 | 69% | $19,944 | 78% |
| 10 | Cascadia College Bothell, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 47 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 32% | — | — |
| 11 | South Puget Sound Community College Olympia, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 33 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 44% | — | — |
| 12 | Pierce College District Lakewood, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 32 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 31% | — | — |
| 13 | Seattle University Seattle, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 31 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $37,063 | 76% | $31,900 | 77% |
| 14 | Edmonds College Lynnwood, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 29% | — | — |
| 15 | Seattle Pacific University Seattle, WA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 29 | Ecology | — | 62% | $24,653 | 83% |
| 16 | Highline College Des Moines, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 35% | — | — |
| 17 | Whitman College Walla Walla, WA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 27 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $28,538 | 81% | $28,508 | 38% |
| 18 | Whitworth University Spokane, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $29,599 | 71% | $23,510 | 90% |
| 19 | Saint Martin's University Lacey, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $32,034 | 52% | $22,131 | 90% |
| 20 | Bastyr University Kenmore, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Nutrition Sciences | $28,998 | — | — | — |
| 21 | Spokane Falls Community College Spokane, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 32% | — | — |
| 22 | University of Puget Sound Tacoma, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $30,191 | 68% | $35,057 | 72% |
| 23 | Heritage University Toppenish, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 54% | $13,380 | — |
| 24 | Walla Walla University College Place, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 60% | $22,260 | — |
| 25 | Skagit Valley College Mount Vernon, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 36% | — | — |
All 34 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 | 453 | 4 |
| Washington State University | Pullman | Public | 247 | 1 |
| Eastern Washington University | Cheney | Public | 112 | 2 |
| University of Washington - Bothell Campus | Bothell | Public | 97 | 1 |
| Central Washington University | Ellensburg | Public | 90 | 3 |
| Gonzaga University | Spokane | Private not-for-profit | 87 | 1 |
| Western Washington University | Bellingham | Public | 65 | 1 |
| Clark College | Vancouver | Public | 51 | 1 |
| Pacific Lutheran University | Tacoma | Private not-for-profit | 50 | 1 |
| Cascadia College | Bothell | Public | 47 | 1 |
| South Puget Sound Community College | Olympia | Public | 33 | 1 |
| Pierce College District | Lakewood | Public | 32 | 1 |
| Seattle University | Seattle | Private not-for-profit | 31 | 1 |
| Edmonds College | Lynnwood | Public | 30 | 1 |
| Seattle Pacific University | Seattle | Private not-for-profit | 29 | 4 |
What life scientists, all other earn in Washington
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $93,750. 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 Life Scientists, All Other page.
How to become a Life Scientist, All Other
- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 10 majors mapped to Life Scientists, All Other10 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 26.0101Biology/Biological Sciences, General
- 26.1301Ecology
- 26.1399Ecology, Evolution, Systematics and Population Biology, Other
- 26.9999Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Other
- 30.1701Behavioral Sciences
- 30.1801Natural Sciences
- 30.1901Nutrition Sciences
- 30.4301Geobiology
- 42.2706Behavioral Neuroscience
- 51.2314Rehabilitation Science
Common questions
Answers for people weighing life scientists, all other programs in Washington.
What degree do you need to become a Life Scientist, All Other?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Biology/Biological Sciences, General, which awarded 1,346 degrees in Washington in 2024-25, 79.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Life Scientist, All Other?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Biology, Nutrition Sciences, Behavioral Sciences, Ecology, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 1,686 people a year in Washington.
How much do life scientists, all other earn in Washington?+
The median is $100,420 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 7.1% above the U.S. median of $93,750. 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 life scientists, all other growing?+
BLS projects a +3.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 400 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Washington?+
34 institutions in Washington reported graduates from at least one of the 6 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.
Do you need training or experience beyond a degree?+
BLS lists 'None' for related work experience and 'None' for on-the-job training typically needed to reach competency.
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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