Seattle, Washington is a vibrant metropolitan hub and the dominant city in the Pacific Northwest. With 608,660 inhabitants as of the 2010 Census, it is the 23rd most populous city in the nation. Amazingly, in spite of being a large industrial and technology center Seattle is also called the “Emerald City” in reference to its stunning natural setting and the ample evergreen forests.It was ranked as America’s No. 1 “smarter city” based on its government policies and green economy.
Seattle has an outstanding musical history. Between 1918 and 1951, there were dozens of jazz nightclubs along Jackson Street and the early careers of Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, Ernestine Anderson and many other famous musicians developed here. This is also the origin of the rock music style known as “grunge” and the birthplace of rock legend Jimi Hendrix. Seattle offers a wide range of entertainment, recreational, cultural and business opportunities. The city is often ranked among top U.S. cities as judged by education levels, the number and quality of arts organizations, communications connectivity and culture of innovation.
Education is one of the foreground forces of Seattle’s economy. High concentration of information and communications technology (ICT), software, biomedical and engineering companies, such as Amazon.com, Microsoft and RealNetworks, requires the advanced professional level of local labor force. According to the U.S. Census Bureau survey Seattle has one of the highest rates of college and university education among large U.S. cities. The studies conducted by Central Connecticut State University showed that Seattle is also one of the most literate of the country’s major cities. More than half (56.0% vs.27.4% nationally) of Seattleites 25 years and older have at least a bachelor’s degree, 92.5% (vs. a national average 84.5%) have a high school diploma.
Seattle has powerful and diverse educational resources that generate the high educational level of its residents. There are 154 public schools, 87 private schools and 30 post-secondary schools in the city. The student to teacher ratio in Seattle for public schools is 18:1 (vs. 16:1 national student to teacher ratio). There are over 30 different colleges or adult education institutions in Seattle, ranging from large state colleges to small, specialized technical schools and providing opportunity to study any discipline or topic. The University of Washington (which enrolls over 46,600 students), Seattle University (which enrolls 6,600) and Seattle Pacific University (which enrolls 4,000) and are the major four-year accredited institutions of higher education in Seattle. They offer undergraduate and graduate programs in a wide range of disciplines, including education, software engineering, law, medicine, biology, oceanography, political science, communications, sociology, art history and linguistics.
The University of Washington is one of the nation’s most respected public universities and the largest school in the Pacific Northwest. It was ranked 25th among the Top 500 World Universities in 2011–2012 by Times Higher Education World University Rankings and occupies top positions in many other rankings of the best universities worldwide. UW is also the heart of research study in Seattle, including the areas of digital systems theory, microcomputer architecture, artificial intelligence, speech and image processing, and metallurgical and ceramic engineering. The University of Washington’s library, considered to be the largest and most comprehensive in the Northwest, holds more than 7.5 million volumes. It contains special libraries affiliated with government agencies, universities, local corporations and hospitals, which concentrate on such fields as medicine, banking, law, business and science.
Mutually beneficial alliance of Seattle’s great educational opportunities and thriving intellectual companies results in a general prosperity of the region and creates the unique conditions for students seeking knowledge and young professionals.
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