Administration: One of six state-funded, four-year institutions of higher education, Western Washington University operates on a September-to-June academic year (quarter system) with a six-and nine-week summer session. Dr. Karen Williams Morse is Western's 12th president.
Location: WWU is situated in Bellingham, a city of 72,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay and many of Puget Sound’s 172 San Juan Islands. The University is 90 miles north of Seattle and 55 miles south of Vancouver, B.C. Western's campus is within walking distance of Bellingham Bay and just an hour’s drive from the ski area on 10,778-foot Mount Baker.
Campus: A residential campus, Western houses about a third of its students in 15 residence halls. Our 215-acre campus includes the student-funded Wade King Student Recreation Center and the 38-acre Sehome Arboretum, operated jointly with the city of Bellingham. Western also has off-campus facilities at Shannon Point Marine Center in Anacortes and a 15-acre student-university facility at nearby Lake Whatcom. Woodring College of Education and the University's Extended Education and Summer Programs offer classes and certificate and degree programs in Bremerton, Everett, Oak Harbor, Mountlake Terrace, Port Angeles, Poulsbo and Seattle.
Academic Organization: For the past four decades, the University has taken special pride in the quality of liberal arts programs required of all students. For the 10th consecutive year, U.S.News & World Report ranked Western as the top public master's-granting university in the Pacific Northwest and second in the West, a region stretching from the Pacific Ocean to Texas. Academic divisions at Western are:
Accreditation: The University is accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges; National Association of Schools of Music; National Recreation and Parks Association; American Speech and Hearing Association; National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education; Computing Sciences Accreditation Board; Technology Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology; American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business; and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs.
Faculty: As of fall 2006, the University employed 651 faculty members, including 583 full-time equivalent (FTE) faculty. Of 485 faculty members employed full time, 85.6 percent have full or terminal degrees. The fall 2006 student-faculty ratio is 19.4:1.
Students: Fall 2006 enrollment included 12,979 full- and part-time students, a full-time equivalent total of 12, 194. Western has 2,425 new first-year students, and 951 new undergraduate transfer students. Average GPA for freshmen is 3.50. About 92 percent of students come from Washington state with most coming from King, Snohomish, Pierce, Whatcom, Clark, Spokane, Kitsap and Skagit counties). The University has students from 47 other states, led by Alaska, California, Oregon and Idaho and from 30 other nations, led by Japan and Canada. Students of color comprise 15.8 percent of the total student body.
Athletics: Now in its eighth year as a full member of NCAA Division II, Western has made national appearances in men's and women's basketball, men's cross country, women's rowing, football, men's and women's golf, softball and volleyball. The Vikings won NCAA II National Championship in women's rowing in 2005 and successfully defended that crown last spring. Western placed second nationally in women's rowing in 2002 and 2003 and reached the national semifinals in both men's basketball and women's basketball in 2001 and 2000, respectively. A member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, Western won the league's first four All-Sports Championships in 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05 and placed second by just three points last year. The Vikings just completed their first season as a football-only member of the North Central Conference, one of the country's most prestigious gridiron alignments. In women's basketball, Western ranks among the top 15 in all-time victories among all four-year schools and has made nine straight national appearances. The Vikings had the fourth-longest winning streak in NCAA II history when they won 57 consecutive league matches in volleyball (2002-04). Nearly 500 WWU student-athletes compete in 16 varsity sports.
Alumni: Over 77,500 WWU graduates live in Washington state and communities throughout the world..
History: On Feb. 24, 1893, Gov. John H. McGraw signed legislation creating New Whatcom Normal School. The first class of 88 students entered in 1899. Western now is the third largest institution of higher education in the state. The Normal School became Western Washington College of Education in 1937, Western Washington State College in 1961, and achieved university status in 1977.
Tuition: Resident undergraduate tuition and fees for 2005-2006 are $5,002.50 for three quarters at Western.
Budget: Western’s 2007 state operating budget is $109,863,352.00, funded by state appropriations and operating fee revenue through June 30, 2007. Fifty-nine percent is funded through state appropriations; 41 percent by tuition.
The website for W estern's Office of Instituional Assessment provides aAdditional interesting facts and statistics about Western.
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