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Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University (W&L), founded 1749 as Augusta Academy, is the ninth-oldest US college, a private liberal arts university in Lexington, Virginia, with a School of Law, need-blind full-need aid, a $2.19B endowment, and about 2,281 students in 2025-26.
Washington State University
Washington State University (WSU), also known as Wazzu, is a public land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, it serves over 25,000 students across five campuses and an online Global Campus.
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU), founded 1853 as Eliot Seminary, is a private R1 research university in St. Louis, Missouri, with 15,952 Fall 2025 students, nine schools, 26 Nobel Laureates, and six campuses.
Wayne State University
Wayne State University, formerly Wayne University, is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It grew from the Detroit Medical College, founded in 1868, and offers more than 375 academic programs.
Webb Institute
Webb Institute is a private Glen Cove, New York college founded in 1889 by William H. Webb, offering only a dual BS in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering with full-tuition scholarships for US students and required winter internships.
Weber State University
Weber State University (WSU), public comprehensive university in Ogden, Utah, founded 1889 as Weber Stake Academy; university since 1991; 33,293 students (fall 2025), 250+ programs, largest U.S. four-year concurrent-enrollment program.
Webster University
Webster University, founded 1915 by the Sisters of Loretto in Webster Groves, St. Louis, is an independent nonprofit university with 13,000+ students, HLC accreditation since 1925, international campuses, and a recent financial turnaround.
Wellesley College
Wellesley College, also known historically as Wellesley Female Seminary, is a private liberal arts college for women in Wellesley, Massachusetts, founded in 1870 and enrolling roughly 2,400 undergraduates.
Wenzhou Medical University
Wenzhou Medical University (温州医科大学), a provincial medical university in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China, founded 1912, renamed 2013; known for pioneering integrated ophthalmology and optometry and its Eye Hospital's three national research platforms.
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University, founded 1831 in Middletown, Connecticut, by Methodist leaders and named for John Wesley, is a private liberal arts university, coeducational since 1970 (earlier 1872–1912), independent of the Methodist church since 1937, test-optional since 2014, and led by President Michael Roth.
West Chester University
West Chester University of Pennsylvania, a public PASSHE university founded in 1871 as a normal school, is Pennsylvania's largest state-owned university with over 17,000 students, R2 research status, and NCAA Division II athletics.
West Coast Conference
The West Coast Conference, also known as the West Coast Athletic Conference, is an NCAA Division I athletic conference founded in 1952 in the San Francisco Bay Area.
West Virginia University
West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant university founded in 1867 in Morgantown, West Virginia, renamed from the Agricultural College of West Virginia in 1868. Distinguished by its R1 research classification, its multi-campus system (WVU Tech, Potomac State, Health Sciences divisions), and its 2023 budget crisis that cut 28 majors and 143 faculty positions.
Western Athletic Conference
Western Athletic Conference (WAC), US college athletic conference founded July 27, 1962 by Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming; grew to 16 teams in 1996, lost eight schools to the Mountain West in 1999, dropped FBS football in 2012, and rebranded as the United Athletic Conference on July 1, 2026.
Western Carolina University
Western Carolina University (WCU) is a public comprehensive university in Cullowhee, North Carolina, founded in 1889 and the UNC system's westernmost campus, with over 12,000 students, NC Promise tuition of $500 per semester in-state, and six colleges.
Western Governors University
Western Governors University (WGU) is a nonprofit, fully online, competency-based university founded in 1997 by 19 U.S. governors, headquartered in Salt Lake City, accredited by NWCCU, with flat-rate tuition of about $4,000 per six-month term.
Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation
WHINSEC (Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation), successor to the U.S. Army School of the Americas, is a Defense Department training institute at Fort Benning, Georgia, opened January 17, 2001 under P.L. 106-398, teaching Latin American military, police, and civilian students with mandated human rights instruction.
Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb and Moline, Illinois, founded in 1899 as a normal school. Known for Higher Learning Commission accreditation since 1913, Carnegie Opportunity and Research designations, NCAA Division I Leathernecks athletics, and two colleges since 2026.
Western Kentucky University
Western Kentucky University (WKU), a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky founded in 1906 as a normal school, renamed Western Kentucky University in 1966; tenth president Timothy C. Caboni since 2017, five colleges, regional campuses, record retention.
Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University (WMU), public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, founded 1903 as Western State Normal School, state's fourth public university since 1957. Carnegie R2, 17,331 students, MAC athletics, $550M Empowering Futures Gift.
Western Washington University
Western Washington University (WWU), public university in Bellingham, Washington, founded 1893 as New Whatcom Normal School; third-largest public university in the state, seven colleges, 2025 enrollment initiative and $23 million structural deficit.
Wheaton College (Illinois)
Wheaton College (Illinois) is a private evangelical Christian liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, founded in 1860; known as the 'Harvard of Christian schools,' alma mater of Billy Graham, with about 2,143 undergraduates.
Whitman College
Whitman College: private liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington, founded 1859/1882, ~1,500 students, 10:1 ratio, fifteenth president Sarah Bolton, 10% Promise tuition cap and full-need commitment from Fall 2026.
Whittier College
Whittier College is a private liberal arts college in Whittier, California, founded in 1887 and named for poet John Greenleaf Whittier; its alumni include President Richard Nixon, class of 1934.
Wichita State University
Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, founded as Fairmount College in 1895, a municipal university from 1926, and a Kansas state university since 1964, governed by the Kansas Board of Regents.
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, chartered in 1793 from Ephraim Williams's bequest, known for the Society of Alumni, tutorials, all-grant aid, and the Purple Cow Ephs.
Wofford College
Wofford College, founded 1854 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, with Benjamin Wofford's $100,000 bequest, is a private United Methodist-related liberal arts college; about 1,800 undergraduates, endowment above $500 million, 12th president Jay Dowd.
Women's colleges in the United States
Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's colleges, are higher education institutions founded to educate women. From Vassar (1865) to 31 remaining colleges in 2022, with declining enrollment, coeducation waves, and evolving transgender admission policies.
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College, Oxford: a constituent college of the University of Oxford founded in 1714 with £10,000 from Sir Thomas Cookes on the site of medieval Gloucester College, with 26 acres of gardens, the Buskins drama society, and Provost David Isaacs.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), founded 1865 in Worcester, Massachusetts, is the third-oldest private technological university in the United States, known for the WPI Plan, its 1970 project-based curriculum with the IQP and 50+ global project centers.