Western Washington University Foundation 

Western develops adventurous learners. The faculty here are exceptional and highly accessible. Working side-by-side with faculty, our students experience a bold, personalized teaching-and-learning dynamic found nowhere else in the state. Our curriculum is academically rigorous and rewards intellectual curiosity and risk-taking. Western fosters high levels of success and achievement among students from a range of academic and personal backgrounds.  

To this end, Western puts a heavy emphasis on community service. Students from every corner of campus will tell you that community service provides them with learning opportunities that are impossible to duplicate in the classroom. Every year, thousands of Western students engage in service projects here at home and in dozens of countries around the world, clocking in over one million hours of community service a year.  This commitment to the world around us is a key component of the unique fabric of the Western experience. Western fosters confidence, leadership and success in students, all who make a difference.

At Western, every student has the opportunity to hone skills in leadership, ethical decision-making and entrepreneurship and put into practice a global perspective and a commitment to sustainability. We achieve this through faculty development and by infusing the curriculum with these core values. To this end, we advance our studies by examining the theory of education itself. Drawing on our roots as a teaching college, we are constantly innovating at both Woodring College of Education and Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies. Western aims to infuse education with the values of our university and carry the best learning techniques forward to the next generation.

Western holds a strong commitment to pushing the edges of scientific and technological innovation. Our faculty participate directly in the classroom and laboratory instruction of our students, in programs that emphasize independent student scholarship and the development of creative and innovative thinking. Graduates from our programs are tomorrow’s physicians and biotech researchers, future software engineers, vehicle designers and solar developers. These programs are part of the solution to keeping Washington’s prominence in scientific and technological innovation and our commitment to healthy communities.  Whether it is our ground-breaking “Institute for Energy Studies” program that is designed to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding green energy economy, Western is keeping our students on the cutting edge of technological breakthroughs.

Our successes, as always, are tied to providing our students the best education possible. Western continues to get national recognition for our commitment to excellence and access. U.S. News and World Report ranked us one of the best regional public universities in the West, while University Business magazine recognized us as a “Model of Efficiency” for our innovative approach to streamlining higher education operations through improvements in technology and business practices. On a more personal level, our alumni continue to rack up awards for their achievements, such as Viking graduates Kelsey Heikoop and Paul Van Metre who received the silver award for Small Manufacturer of the Year from Seattle Business Magazine. We still swell with pride as Western graduate and Oscar Award Winner TJ Martin continues his success in Hollywood, and we cheered like crazy when our men’s basketball team won the NCAA Division II national championship last year.

Our needs are simple. WWU students are ready to tackle the world’s challenges, and to do that, they need the world-class education that Western provides. Your philanthropic support provides student scholarships, resources for the classroom and investments in the campus – the essential building blocks for these students’ success. Every dollar you give goes directly towards ensuring Western’s commitment to excellence and access. Be part of the Western Community, please donate today.  Our goal is to increase scholarship funding to expand access to students of all income levels - and to increase our outreach efforts, introducing more young people to higher education.  Make your gift in support of scholarships today at www.wwu.edu/give or visit our website for more information about the impact your gift has at Western Washington University.