** Western Washington University campus report **
Three words: Love Thy Safety
I think it’s safe to say that she’s found her lovable safety. My only concern is that it feels more like going on vacation than going to school! Purely from a location POV, if you love the outdoors but also want the amenities of a small, hip city, and affordable tuition, it would be hard to do better. WWU is situated between Bellingham and Fairhaven, the latter is a quaint waterfront community with lots of antique shops, restaurants, and a historic downtown. The former is a small city of about 90,000 people with all of the amenities that a town of that size affords, including two main shopping streets that run parallel to one another and are full of coffee shops, galleries, restaurants, bars, and if you are inclined to indulge in legal marijuana use, a place called “The Joint.” Excellent farmers/craft market on Saturdays. Adjacent to the campus is an arboretum with an extensive network of hiking and biking trails. 15-20 minutes away is Lakewood, a WWU inholding on Lake Whatcom, where students and alumni can rent kayaks and sailboats for absurdly low rates. Seattle is about 1.5 hours by car to the south; Vancouver, about 1.5 hours to the north.
If you’re actually going to school to study, here are some highlights regarding our campus tour. Our guide was Jonathan, a member of the honors program from San Diego. He was articulate and easy going. The campus is long and narrow and we started at a new recreational center (with an indoor climbing gym!) and worked our way to the original part of campus, which started as a normal (teaching) school in the 1890s. Much of the newer architecture is clean and modern with lots of natural light. There are a very few 1950s era monstrosities scattered in the middle of campus. There is also an interactive sculpture series that is something of a tourist attraction. The sample dorm room (a double room in a four-room suite) was a bit small and drab. There’s some construction going on, but as it was Saturday, it was quiet.
Academically, WWU offers many majors, with especially strong offerings in environmental science, psychology, primary and secondary ed, and musical theater. It has an honors program that offers a living/learning community and interdisciplinary seminars that can substitute for larger gen ed classes. There is also a liberal arts college within WWU called Fairhaven within which students can design their own majors and they get narrative instead of letter grades (separate application required). It’s a WUE school (Western Undergraduate Exchange) so if you are a resident of a western state, you can apply for reduced OOS tuition (1.5x in state). You need to apply early and have good stats to qualify; it’s not automatic. WWU is not a Common App school but the application is not complicated.
There are some impacted majors and a young man we met reported that he was delayed 2 quarters because he could not get into the computer science courses he needed to complete his degree. He was not happy about it.
There is no football team and no Greek life.
On Saturdays, parking is free. M-F, it’s $4.
If D17 ended up here, I’d be happy to visit on a regular basis? 
Only restricted to drive those 20 and younger for a YEAR after they get their permit or until they turn 18.
, but a financial reach (since those scholarships are hard to come by and they aren’t known for giving need-based aid to middle income families) :-<