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.
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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:
CollegeDepartment
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:

Rankings

In the 2025 U.S. News Best Colleges rankings, Western is ranked 18th in Regional Universities West and 9th of the region's public schools. After the Bothell and Tacoma campuses of the University of Washington, Western is ranked third among this category's universities in the Pacific Northwest. The university is also ranked 13th in the region's Best Colleges for Veterans. Washington Monthly ranked Western number 52 nationally in their 2024 college guide.
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.

Notable degree programs

Athletics

WWU is an official member of NCAA Division II, having joined in September 1998. In 2011–12, approximately 350 students are participating in 15 varsity sports at Western, six for men and nine for women. In 2010–11, WWU placed seventh among 310 NCAA Division II schools in the Sports Director's Cup national all-sports standings, the second-highest finish in school history. The Vikings were sixth in 2009–10 and tenth in 2008–09. WWU has had eight straight Top 50 finishes and been among the Top 100 in each of its first 13 seasons as an NCAA II member.
In 2010–11, Western won its third straight and seventh overall Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Sports championship, taking league titles in volleyball, men's golf and women's golf, and the regular-season crown in women's basketball. The Vikings, who won the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference championship, placed second in men's and women's cross country, men's and women's outdoor track, men's indoor track and softball.
The Vikings have won an NAIA national championship in softball, two National Collegiate Rowing Championships in women's rowing, and NCAA Division II national championships in women's rowing, men's basketball and women's soccer. WWU athletes have also won individual national championships in track and field.

Varsity sports

The Vikings field varsity teams for men and women in cross country, soccer, golf, basketball, and track & field. Women's teams compete in volleyball, softball, and rowing. Between 1903 and 2008 WWU fielded a football team but folded it in hopes of saving money to keep other WWU teams competitive.

Students

In the 2024–25 academic year, 14,651 students were enrolled, of whom 86% were in-state Washington residents.
Many WWU students participate in organized student government. The Associated Students of Western Washington University is "an organization designed and run by Western students, the Associated Students seeks to ensure a fulfilling college and academic experience for all university students through the many services, facilities and programs it offers." ASWWU has five main areas of focus: clubs, activities, programs, facilities & services, and governance.
ASWWU aims to provide "funding, space and services" to students "uniting around common interests". Its staff assist student development of clubs and provide advising, "continuity, referral and record keeping" throughout the process. There are more than 200 student clubs in the following categories: Arts and Music, Cultural, Political, Special Interest, Gaming, Social Issues, Departmental, Limited Membership, Service, Religious, and Recreational.
Students who wish to set up a table in Red Square to promote their club must sign up for a space through the university. A blue board on the west side of Red Square has general university policy on freedom of speech and guidelines for using chalk on the bricks.

Media

Multiple news outlets are associated with WWU.

Official publications

WWU's Office of University Communications operates several publications, including:WWU News, Western Washington University's main news site.Western Today, a campus newsletter published several times a week.Window, a twice-annual publication distributed to WWU alumni, donors, faculty and staff.
A livestream of Red Square is filmed from atop Bond Hall.

Student publications

Student-run publications at WWU include:The Front is Western's official student newspaper covering city-wide and greater county-wide news. It operates independently of the university itself, though articles are written, edited, and published by students of the university. The Front was awarded as the "Best All-Around Non-Daily Student Newspaper" by the Society of Professional Journalists' Region 10 in 2017. The newspaper's first edition as the Western Front was published on October 10, 1967.Klipsun Magazine is a quarterly student magazine. Each issue of the magazine has a specific theme, and the periodical as a whole is intended to be an example of multimedia journalism.Occam's Razor, as well as Jeopardy, are formatted as academic journals, and aim to publish academic research done by Western undergraduates.The Planet is published as part of the university's environmental studies program. The magazine promotes environmental awareness.Window: The Magazine of Western Washington University, a magazine published two to three times a year by the university. It won multiple silver and bronze Council for Advancement and Support of Education Circle of Excellence awards in 2019.
The Student Publications Office of the university publishes the Front, Klipsun, Occam's Razor, and the Planet, as well as Jeopardy. The Associated Students of Western Washington University also operates media services, including Wavelength, a weekly online and printed alternative news source.
The KUGS radio station accepts albums from students to air. KUGS also has a large library of vinyl records that can be listened to in the studio.

Police

The Western Washington University Police Department are a university police force at the university. The police chief of the department is Katryne "Katy" Potts, who was sworn into the position in January 2023. The department also has a staff of "Green Coats" under their public safety branch, who offer "safety escorts on campus, event security staffing and building access services for current students."

People

Notable faculty

Notable alumni