In 2022, 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, which compete in Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
The main campus is located on 215 acres in Bellingham. WWU also operates a marine center in Anacortes and academic locations in Everett and the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas. The university is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
== History ==
Western was established as the Northwest Normal School, a teachers' school predominantly for women although men also enrolled, by Phoebe Judson in Lynden, Washington, in 1886. Eventually the school moved to Bellingham (then "New Whatcom"), and through the efforts of William R. Moultray and George Judson (Phoebe's son). Governor John McGraw signed legislation establishing the New Whatcom Normal School on February 24, 1893. In November 1895, construction began on a permanent school building, now known as Old Main, …
