by CHRISTINE HOFFMANN

October 7, 2020

The prestigious national Washington Monthly magazine has awarded The Evergreen State College second out of 614 U.S. schools granting master’s degrees in their 2020 rankings. The bimonthly nonprofit magazine, based in Washington D.C, ranks colleges and universities across the country based on three criteria: social mobility, research and civic engagement. According to Washington Monthly’s website, the master’s university category ranks colleges “based on what they do for the country” with a focus on “four-year institutions that award a significant number of master’s degrees but few or no doctoral degrees.” Evergreen, based in Olympia, Washington, has three tracks for graduate students: Environmental Studies, Public Administration and Teaching. The complete list of rankings can be found here. “At Evergreen, we didn’t wait for a pandemic to rethink the college experience,” said Evergreen President George Bridges. “Our non-traditional students include high numbers of veterans, people of color, returning adults, LGBTQ+, tribal members, low-income and first-generation students, and students with disabilities. They thrive in Evergreen’s flexible, affordable study programs that build community and get them to marketable degrees, fast.” Ramona Nabors ‘20, earned a Master of Public Administration and currently serves as a budget assistant to Governor Jay Inslee. She chose Evergreen because of its flexibility and reputation among her peers and many others employed by the state of Washington. “I really enjoyed how much creativity I was able to bring to my classes every day,” Nabors said. “Evergreen doesn’t teach you how to think. They create real life assignments for students to problem-solve that are immediately applicable in our careers. You need to think for yourself.” More information about Evergreen’s master’s programs can be found here.