Marylhurst Ranked #1 in Pacific Northwest in Washington Monthly’s Top Colleges for Adult Learners


Share this article! Marylhurst University ranked #1 in the Pacific Northwest, and #9 nationwide, in the Four-Year Colleges for Adult Learners category of the 2017 Washington Monthly College Rankings. Marylhurst University is the only college in the Pacific Northwest to make the Top 40 list in this category. (The closest is Eastern Washington University ranked … Read more

Marylhurst University ranked #1 in the Pacific Northwest, and #9 nationwide, in the Four-Year Colleges for Adult Learners category of the 2017 Washington Monthly College Rankings. Marylhurst University is the only college in the Pacific Northwest to make the Top 40 list in this category. (The closest is Eastern Washington University ranked at number 43.)

“Marylhurst University is one of the institutions doing the best job of helping adult students get the degrees they need to advance their careers,” said Washington Monthly Editor-in-Chief Paul Glastris. “By honoring colleges like Marylhurst that do right by adult students, we hope we’ll spur others to do the same.” 

Glastris points out in an article he penned for the annual Washington Monthly college guide that 40 percent of college students are adult learners. “Nearly half of all college students are 25 or older, yet no publication ranks the top schools for them—except us,” he writes. And the colleges generally considered the best in the nation aren’t doing enough to accommodate adult learners, he says. “They aren’t recruiting more adult students or offering them the services they need—like abundant evening and weekend classes to accommodate work and family schedules.”

For that reason, Washington Monthly evaluates several criteria specific to this population, relying on data from two federal government sources as well as the College Board’s Annual Survey of Colleges, and recognizes colleges and universities who go the extra mile to serve the adult learner. The criteria are: ease of transfer/enrollment, flexibility of programs,services for adult students, percent of adult students (age 25+) at the college, mean earnings of adult students 10 years after entering college, loan repayment rates of adult students five years after entering repayment, and tuition/fees for in-district students.

Marylhurst’s ranking can be viewed online at: washingtonmonthly.com/2017college-guide/

Founded in 1893, Marylhurst University is a premier, not-for-profit, professionally focused liberal arts and business university. Our community of scholars, professionals and artists offers bachelor’s degree completion programs, exceptional master’s degrees, courses, continuing education and impressive arts, music and cultural events.