Best Colleges in Utah

Utah has 17 colleges and schools and almost 100 departments. The school offers over 80 undergraduate majors, including minors and certificates. Students can pursue bachelor’s degrees in atmospheric sciences, ballet, gender studies, kinesiology, peace and conflict studies, and more.

University of Utah is known for its entrepreneurial pedigree. It’s one of the best colleges in Utah for start-up company creation. The Hinckley Institute engages students in governmental processes and prepares them for public services. The Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute provides students from any major with workshops, business plan competitions, start-up support, and more. The Center for Engineering Innovation serves industry and public/government collaborators, including faculty, staff, and students, by turning basic science into commercial products.

Alumni includes the presidents of Pixar Studios, Zions First National Bank, Procter & Gamble, and Jet Blue Airways; U.S. senators, award-winning authors, professional athletes, and many more.

WGU’s programs are designed for working adults who need a more flexible learning environment. The teacher’s college offers eight online bachelor’s degree licensure programs and 17 online masters programs. Other degrees include 12 online bachelor and master’s degree programs in business, 10 online bachelor and master’s programs in information technology, and 11 bachelor’s and master’s programs in nursing and related professions.

Each degree program is developed by a council of experts in the field who identify the competencies students need to obtain for graduation. Competency-based learning eliminates spending time and money on content students already know. Those with prior relevant experience can accelerate their time to degree completion by completing competency assessments. The average WGU student is 37. Like other Utah colleges, online classes at WGU do not operate on fixed schedules. An assigned student mentor with subject matter experience in the student’s field helps develop a study plan, provides feedback, and ensures students maintain motivation through regularly scheduled, weekly conversations.

Westminster offers a liberal arts education blended with professional programs. It offers 52 undergraduate and graduate programs at its Salt Lake City campus. There are 38 bachelor’s degrees in majors like public health, political science, and finance. Westminster’s 2,100 undergraduate students enjoy personalized attention from faculty with a 9:1 student-to-faculty ratio; 93% of full-time instructors hold the highest available degree in their fields, contributing to its status as one of the best colleges in Utah.

The 32-acre campus includes a LEED-certified science center, library, athletic and recreational facilities, and art and performance spaces. Produce and eggs from Westminster’s organic garden and chicken coop, tended by students, is available to students at no charge. The school offers a variety of year-round fitness, wellness, and recreational programs that include rock climbing trips, hip-hop classes, and cross country ski trips. Varsity sports include alpine skiing, dance, snowboarding, and lacrosse.

Utah Valley started as a vocational school during World War II. The school has eight colleges, a graduate school, and six satellite centers for nontraditional students. Utah Valley is the largest public educational institution among Utah colleges and recognized as one of the safest schools in the country. It has largest Latter Day Saints Institute program in the world; UVU is located a few miles from Brigham Young University.

Utah Valley offers 146 bachelor’s degree programs including a diverse selection of majors in personal finance planning, mechatronics engineering technology, digital cinema, and botany. The school has eight master’s degree programs and a distance learning program, including certificates and associate degrees. UVU provides numerous academic, vocational, technical, and workforce training projects for students. The field station at Capitol Reef National Park supports engaged learning and research through fieldwork in the Colorado Plateau.

Snow, located in the mountains of Sanpete County in central Utah, has campuses in Ephraim and Richfield, along with an online degree option. As a community college, Snow is committed to helping students get started on their journey, whether they’re transferring to a major university or launching their career immediately after graduation. The school offers more than 80 associate degrees and over 40 certificate programs in subjects like welding, farm and ranch management, and business and music technology. There are two bachelor’s programs: the first is music with an emphasis in commercial music, a degree that is unique among Utah colleges with its focus on the music industry and entrepreneurship. The second bachelor program is for software engineering, a new course starting this year that offers three areas of emphasis: entrepreneurship, digital media design, and web development. Most fields of study expect students to take certain prerequisite courses that prepare them for transfer; Snow offers nearly all of these courses.

Utah State funnels over $200 million into collaborative faculty and student research initiatives each year with industry and military partners. USU’s Innovation Campus is a high-tech research park with facilities and programs that stimulate business growth and help students gain hands-on experience. The school’s Space Dynamics Laboratory works to solve technical problems faced by the Department of Defense and industrial concerns. Each year, over 1,000 students enroll in USU’s undergraduate research program to partner with faculty on research projects, reaffirming USU’s reputation as one of the best colleges in Utah for research.

Utah operates three regional campuses in Brigham City, Tooele, and Uintah Basin. It’s has seven colleges, plus the Huntsman School of Business, which offers a range of undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and specialized degree programs. This includes 159 bachelor’s degrees in majors such as aviation technology, fisheries and aquatic sciences, human movement sciences, journalism, and statistics. USU’s student body is over 28,000 students. USU alumni include 23 Goldwater and seven Rhodes Scholars, NASA astronaut Mary Louise Cleave, human rights activist Greg Carr, and 2013 Nobel Prize in Economics winner Lars Peter Hansen.

Weber State maintains campuses in Ogden, Layton, Morgan, Roy, Clearfield, and Farmington to provide undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees, and certificates throughout the Northern Utah region. Weber is organized into seven academic colleges with over 50 academic departments offering more than 230 programs, online and on-campus. Undergraduate programs include business administration, criminal justice, early childhood education, and electrical engineering. The student body of over 24,000 students attend either WSU’s main campuses in Ogden or Layton, or the additional learning centers in Roy and Clearfield.

Compared to other Utah colleges, WSU students are more likely to be first generation college students, work full-time, and receive financial aid. 56% of WSU students attend school part-time, and their average age is 26. The school believes protecting the environment is important and has pledged to become carbon-neutral by 2050. Weber has men’s and women’s athletic teams.

Based in Cedar City, Southern Utah University is home to more than 9,200 students and ranks among the top public colleges in Utah. SUU offers more than 140 unique academic programs, such as aviation, outdoor recreation in parks and tourism, French, athletic training, and human nutrition. Undergraduates can also choose from a wide selection of innovative academic minors, such as museum studies, library media, physical education, and Shakespeare studies. SUU hosts the annual Utah Shakespeare Festival, which draws more than 100,000 visitors each season. The SUU campus also hosts a student radio station, cable television channel, and the Michael O. Leavitt Center for Politics and Public Service, which encourages public participation and good citizenship among students. The center works to develop community engagement through public policy awareness, voter registration drives, public service activities, and internships.