Quality of education in the Spokane region is outstanding. Our universities and colleges have earned national recognition with awards and achievements.

In Kiplinger’s 2009-10 ranking of the top 50 private university values in the U.S., Whitworth ranks 39 and Gonzaga ranks 50. Only a handful of other cities have more than one school on the list – Boston (Harvard, MIT, Boston College, Emerson, Boston University), Philadelphia (Penn and Villanova), Providence (Brown and Providence College) and Washington, D.C., (Johns Hopkins and Georgetown).

The 2010 edition of Princeton Review's "Best 371 Colleges" includes Gonzaga University and Washington State University in its rankings. The 2009 edition of Princeton Review’s “Bests 368 Colleges” also included Gonzaga University. While they are not ranked in order of excellence, Gonzaga ranked No. 9 in the category “Students Pack the Stadiums,” and is among the 122 schools named a “Best Western College” by the Princeton Review.

The Gonzaga University School of Law also brings in its fair share of accolades.  The school has been named one of the ten most innovative law schools in the nation by preLaw Magazine.  The school is also ranked among the top 100 law schools in the nation by U.S. News and World Report in 2009.  The Gonzaga University School of Engineering and Applied Science also rose to No. 20 best undergraduate engineering program in the nation among engineering schools without a doctoral program.  Gonzaga also ranked No. 1 among all of the top 61 schools in its classification for its alumni giving rate.

The Writing Programs at Washington State University have earned national recognition by placing among the top in U.S. News & World Report rankings. They were published in its “America’s Best Colleges 2010” report.

In addition, Imagine Tomorrow, the Washington State University annual high school problem-solving competition, has been selected as the recipient of the 2009 Environmental Education Association of Washington (EEAW) Community Catalyst Award. The award give recognition to different programs from schools, agencies or organizations that have a mission to provide community-based environmental education.

Central Valley School District, Mead School District, and Spokane Public Schools District all received blue ribbon awards and ranked in the top 33% of 2,800 districts nationwide in Expansion Management’s 2005 Education Quotient.  The rankings are meant to compare and communicate the quality of education and workforce to business leaders and companies looking to expand or relocate their operations.