In Seattle, it’s possible to start your morning running along Lake Washington, spend your afternoon brainstorming with a biotech leader, and end your day watching planes land at Boeing Field. For MBA students at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, that blend of innovation, access, and adventure isn’t a dream; it’s daily life.
Ranked No. 8 in the world and No. 2 among U.S. public institutions in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025-26 Best Global Universities ranking, the University of Washington delivers the kind of prestige that opens doors anywhere. Within this world-class research university, the Foster School offers selective MBA programs designed for impact. Every student has near-unlimited access to faculty, mentors, and industry leaders who know them by name.
Seattle is one of those rare places where you can pursue your dream job and love where you live. It’s a safe and welcoming place where career ambition and quality of life work together.
Seattle Is A City Of Industries
Seattle’s economy is as diverse as its skyline. From rockets to retail, it’s a city where global industries meet and where MBAs find opportunity in nearly every field.
Tech anchors the region, with Amazon and Microsoft joined by Expedia Group, Zillow, Salesforce, Meta, Nintendo, TikTok, Avanade, and countless others that make the city one of the world’s leading innovation hubs. But technology is only part of the story.
Aerospace and defense remain foundational, led by Boeing and Blue Origin, as well as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Aerojet Rocketdyne/L3Harris. Across the region, healthcare and biotech thrive through organizations like Fred Hutch, Seagen/Pfizer, UW Medicine, Seattle Children’s, and Providence Health & Services. Retail and consumer brands (think Starbucks, Columbia Sportswear, Costco, Nordstrom, Nike, and REI) dominate the landscape, while Alaska Airlines and T-Mobile connect Seattle to the world.
The city’s consulting and finance presence is strong, with Deloitte, EY, PwC, Accenture, and many boutique firms recruiting Foster School grads. And, the venture capital and private equity community fuels investment across industries, from life sciences to renewables.
Few U.S. cities offer this kind of professional diversity within close reach. For MBAs, it means choice: tangible career paths in one of the most robust economies in North America.
Bespoke Career Support And Real Outcomes
Foster’s Full-Time MBA program is intentionally small, which means the student experience is personalized. Every student works directly with a dedicated career coach, a guide and advocate who helps refine goals, target employers, and navigate the recruiting process.
As Full-Time MBA alum Joe Castro, now Senior Strategy Manager at U.S. Soccer, recalls: “I give Foster’s Career Management team so much credit. It was a whole new way of thinking about how to tell my story. As a veteran, that support was invaluable as I searched for my first civilian job.”
More than 80 senior executives serve as mentors to Full-Time MBAs, and over 500 local business leaders engage with them each year through classroom discussions, networking events, and applied strategy projects. The school’s close relationships with companies across Seattle and the country translate into internships, behind-the-scenes access, and jobs.
For Full-Time MBA alum Shiyi Pickrell, now Senior VP of Data and AI at Expedia Group, the experience was transformative: “At Foster, you’re surrounded by people who are curious, generous, and motivated. Everyone wants to see you succeed—and that energy changes how you see what’s possible.”
That kind of personalized guidance and community support pays off. The Foster School consistently ranks among the top programs for job placement, and graduates move into leadership roles across industries.
A Global Brand With A Uniquely Seattle Network
One of the most significant advantages of earning an MBA at the University of Washington is joining a network that never stops working for you. The university has more than 588,000 active alumni worldwide, including nearly 60,000 from the Foster School of Business. Many live in the Pacific Northwest, creating a highly engaged community of professionals who mentor, hire, and open doors.
Networking begins on day one with company visits, alum coffee chats, and capstone projects that connect classroom learning to real business challenges. And it continues for life. Wherever you go, from the Seattle suburbs to San Francisco and Singapore, you’ll have connections.
Innovation You Can Work With
As one of the world’s leading research universities, the University of Washington continually transforms ideas into action. Every program, from engineering to medicine, collaborates with industry to solve complex problems and create new opportunities. For MBAs, that means access to projects, partners, and employers that are literally changing the world.
Innovation in Seattle isn’t theoretical. It’s something you can intern with, consult for, or lead. It fuels a steady stream of business, technology, and consulting jobs for graduates.
Where Business Meets The Great Outdoors
Seattle-ites also value the region’s outdoor lifestyle. You can step outside and be on a hiking trail in minutes. Within an hour, you’ll find some of the best skiing, snowboarding, climbing, and mountain biking in the country. Recreation is accessible from every corner of the city, and the region’s parks, lakes, rivers, and greenways make the outdoors part of everyday life.
It’s also a healthy, fun place to live. People care about fitness, wellness, great food, and fresh air. It’s no coincidence that Washington grows more apples, cherries, and pears than any other state. And, Washington produces over 70 percent of the nation’s hops (making it a mecca for beer lovers). Seattle also has the largest ferry system in the U.S., making it easy to explore the region. If you’re lucky, you might even spot the resident orca pods (aka killer whales).
Add an unbeatable coffee culture, an international dining scene, and pro sports teams that bring the city together, and you have a community that works hard, plays hard, and lives well.
The Foster School Difference
The Foster School of Business combines the reach of a world-class public research university with the focus of a program built around you. Here, MBAs benefit from expert career guidance, deep corporate connections, and the global credibility of the University of Washington, all in a city where the future feels wide open.
Seattle is a hub for ingenuity and ambition. Here, your MBA isn’t just a credential. It’s a personalized launchpad to a thriving career in one of the world’s most beautiful cities.
The University of Washington’s Foster School of Business is one of the nation’s top-ranked public business schools, located in the heart of Seattle’s innovation economy. With over 60,000 alumni worldwide and connections across industries, from consulting and technology to aerospace, healthcare, and beyond, Foster offers a Full-Time MBA experience built on real-world engagement. Students gain personalized career support, mentorship from business leaders, and access to companies that shape the global economy, all backed by a world-class research university.
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