the College of Business and Economics was established (1976).
Today, WWU has a student body that currently consists of over 16,000 students. The university is the third largest in Washington after Washington State University and the University of Washington.
== Main campus ==
WWU's main campus is located in Bellingham, a city of about 95,000 people, overlooking Bellingham Bay and many of the San Juan Islands. The university is 90 miles (140 km) north of Seattle, 55 miles (89 km) south of Vancouver, British Columbia, and an hour's drive from 10,778-foot (3,285 m) Mount Baker. The university is located close to Interstate 5.
The Bellingham campus is 215 acres (87 ha), including the 38-acre (15 ha) 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. Western's Vehicle Research Institute has led Automobile Magazine to describe …
