Western Washington University
public university in Bellingham, Washington
Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. It was established in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, succeeding a private teachers' school founded in 1886. The university adopted its present name in 1977.
WWU offers bachelor's, master's and select doctoral degrees. In fall 2024, there were 14,710 students, including 13,752 undergraduates, and 683 full-time faculty. The university is classified as a research university in the Carnegie Classification. Its athletic teams are known as the Vikings, and compete in Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
The main campus sits on 215 acres in Bellingham. WWU also operates the Shannon Point Marine Center in Anacortes and academic locations in Everett and on the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas. WWU is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
The public source identifies “Western Washington University” as public university in Bellingham, Washington. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Western, Washington and University.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q284777. VIAF identifies the subject as 136956698. The Library of Congress control number is n78011372. Authority coordinates are 48.734, -122.486. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1893, 1886, 1977 and 2024.
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This entry incorporates text from “Western Washington University” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.