Western Washington University
Western Washington University is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, succeeding a private school of teaching for women founded in 1886. The university adopted its present name in 1977.
WWU offers bachelor's and master's degrees and a few doctorates., there were 14,747 students, 13,801 of whom were undergraduate students, and 664 full-time faculty. Its athletic teams are known as the Vikings, and compete in Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
The main campus is on 215 acres in Bellingham. WWU also operates a marine center in Anacortes and academic locations in Everett and the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas. WWU is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
History
In 1886, WWU was established as the Northwest Normal School, a teachers' school predominantly for women although men also enrolled, by Phoebe Judson in Lynden, Washington. The school later moved to Bellingham. Governor John McGraw signed legislation establishing the New Whatcom Normal School on February 24, 1893. In 1895, construction began on a permanent school building, now known as Old Main, the current administration building. Designed by prominent Seattle architects Warren Skillings and James Corner, it was completed by early 1897 but could not open to students until funds were secured to install heating, lighting, and do general grounds maintenance, which were not included in the original contract. The first official class entered in 1899, composed of 88 students.The institution that is now Western Washington University underwent several name changes. The name changed to State Normal School at Whatcom in 1901 to reflect New Whatcom's name change; in 1904 to Washington State Normal School at Bellingham, when the townships of Whatcom and Fairhaven joined; and in 1937 to Western Washington College of Education, when it became a four-year college. In 1961 it became Western Washington State College and in 1977 the school gained university status and adopted its present name.
The 1960s was a period of especially rapid growth for Western, as its enrollment increased from 3,000 students to over 10,000 during the decade. In 1967, the Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies was founded, with non-traditional education methods that served as a model for Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. In 1969, the College of the Environment, the nation's first dedicated environmental science college, was founded, continuing Western's trend toward "cluster" colleges. That same year, on a spring afternoon, students gained headlines by blocking Interstate 5 to protest the Vietnam War. Also in 1969, the College of Ethnic Studies was established. After being met with significant resistance, it was dismantled in 1978.
Since this period, the College of Arts and Sciences was founded and divided into the College of Humanities & Social Sciences and the College of Science & Engineering ; the College of Fine and Performing Arts was formed from several art departments ; and the College of Business and Economics was established.
Today, WWU has a student body of over 16,000 students. The university is Washington's third largest, after Washington State University and the University of Washington.
Main campus
WWU's main campus is in Bellingham, a city of about 95,000 people, overlooking Bellingham Bay and many of the San Juan Islands. It is north of Seattle, south of Vancouver, British Columbia, and an hour's drive from Mount Baker. The university is close to Interstate 5.The Bellingham campus is, including the Sehome Hill Arboretum, operated jointly with the City of Bellingham. Campus facilities include an electronic music studio, an air pollution lab, a motor vehicle research lab, a marine research lab, a wind tunnel, and two electron microscopes. Automobile Magazine has called Western "very possibly the best school in the country for total car design".
Western also has off-campus facilities at Shannon Point Marine Center in Anacortes, Washington; Lakewood, a student-university facility at nearby Lake Whatcom; and Whatcom County property used for environmental and aquatic analyses.
Public sculpture collection
WWU's collection of outdoor and indoor public sculptures is a major presence on campus. Founded in 1960 and funded by the Washington State Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, and private donations, it includes 36 works by James FitzGerald, Isamu Noguchi, Robert Morris, Mark di Suvero, Anthony Caro, Nancy Holt, Beverly Pepper, Richard Serra, Donald Judd, Bruce Nauman, and others.Academics
Academic organization
Western offers multiple bachelor's degrees, as well as the degrees of Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Education, Master in Teaching, Master of Business Administration, Master of Professional Accounting, Master of Fine Arts, Master of Music, Clinical Doctorate in Audiology, and Doctor of Education. The university is organized into the following colleges and departments:| College | Department |
| College of Humanities and Social Sciences | Anthropology |
| College of Humanities and Social Sciences | Communication Studies |
| College of Humanities and Social Sciences | English |
| College of Humanities and Social Sciences | Ethnic Studies |
| College of Humanities and Social Sciences | Global Humanities and Religions |
| College of Humanities and Social Sciences | Health and Human Development |
| College of Humanities and Social Sciences | History |
| College of Humanities and Social Sciences | Journalism |
| College of Humanities and Social Sciences | Languages, Literatures, and Cultures |
| College of Humanities and Social Sciences | Linguistics |
| College of Humanities and Social Sciences | Philosophy |
| College of Humanities and Social Sciences | Political Science |
| College of Humanities and Social Sciences | Psychology |
| College of Humanities and Social Sciences | Sociology |
| College of Humanities and Social Sciences | Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences |
| College of Humanities and Social Sciences | Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies |
| College of Science and Engineering | Biology |
| College of Science and Engineering | Chemistry |
| College of Science and Engineering | Computer Science |
| College of Science and Engineering | Electrical and Computer Engineering |
| College of Science and Engineering | Engineering and Design |
| College of Science and Engineering | Geology |
| College of Science and Engineering | Mathematics |
| College of Science and Engineering | Physics and Astronomy |
| College of Business and Economics | Accounting |
| College of Business and Economics | Economics |
| College of Business and Economics | Decision Sciences |
| College of Business and Economics | Finance and Marketing |
| College of Business and Economics | Management |
| College of Business and Economics | Master of Business Administration |
| College of Fine and Performing Arts | Art and Art History |
| College of Fine and Performing Arts | Dance |
| College of Fine and Performing Arts | Design |
| College of Fine and Performing Arts | Music |
| College of Fine and Performing Arts | Theatre |
| Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies | None |
| College of the Environment | Environmental Sciences |
| College of the Environment | Environmental Studies |
| College of the Environment | Urban and Environmental Planning and Policy |
| Woodring College of Education | Early Childhood, Elementary, and Multilingual Education |
| Woodring College of Education | Education Leadership and Inclusive Teaching |
| Woodring College of Education | Health and Community Studies |
| Woodring College of Education | Secondary Education |
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Accreditations and approvals
The university is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Specific programs or academic units are accredited or approved by specialized organization:- Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
- American Chemical Society
- American Speech and Hearing Association
- Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
- Computing Sciences Accreditation Board
- Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs
- National Association of Schools of Music
- National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
- National Recreation and Park Association
- Planning Accreditation Board
Rankings
In 2024, the Peace Corps ranked Western the top all-time producer of Peace Corps volunteers among medium colleges and universities. Western is also a Fulbright Program Top Producing Institution, and is ranked third among master's universities for the number of research doctorate recipients among its baccalaureate graduates.
Western was ranked 155th among 328 participating institutions in the Sierra Club's 2021 Cool Schools ranking of sustainable colleges and universities. Additionally, from 2020 through 2022, the university was recognized by the Great Colleges to Work For program, published by ModernThink and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Western remains a member of the FirstGen Forward Network.