Washington University in St. Louis

Washington University in St. Louis (Wash. U., or WUSTL) is a private research university located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853, and named after George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all 50 U.S. states and more than 120 countries.Twenty-five Nobel laureates have been affiliated with Washington University, nine having done the major part of their pioneering research at the university. Washington University's undergraduate program is ranked 15th by U.S. News and World Report. The university is ranked 32nd in the world by the Academic Ranking of World Universities.

Washington University is made up of seven graduate and undergraduate schools that encompass a broad range of academic fields. Officially incorporated as "The Washington University," the university is occasionally referred to as "WUSTL, an acronym derived from its initials. More commonly, the school is referred to as "Wash. U." To prevent confusion over its location, theBoard of Trustees added the phrase "in St. Louis" in 1976.

• School of E​ngineering & Applied Science​

  The School of Engineering & Applied Science is ranked among US News &​ World Re​port's top 50 Engineering Schools, and focuses intellectual efforts through a new convergence paradigm, particularly as applied to medicine and health, energy and environment, entrepre​neurship and security.​

In 1853, prominent St. Louis merchant Wayman Crow and his pastor, William Greenleaf Eliot Jr., concerned about the lack of institutions of higher learning in the growing midwest, led the founding of Washington University in St. Louis.

During the 1840s and 50s, waves of immigrants flooded into St. Louis, boosting the population of the young city. With these newcomers came a pressing need for education — both industrial training and basic general courses — conducted outside of normal working hours. So the first educational step of the young Washington University was to establish an evening program on October 22, 1854. Over the succeeding decades, the continuing education program underwent many changes.

The university flourished at its location in downtown St. Louis for its first 50 years, growing from an evening program to an institution offering a full slate of scientific, liberal arts and classical course offerings. In time, schools of law and fine arts were added. In 1891, the school acquired the St. Louis Medical College to form a medical department, which merged with the Missouri Medical College in 1899.

In 1900, construction was begun on the first five buildings of a plan based on the medieval courtyards of Oxford and Cambridge Colleges. In 1901, with the construction of Busch Hall and University Hall (now known as Brookings Hall) underway and cornerstones laid for Cupples I and Cupples II, the buildings were leased to the company organizing the 1904 World’s Fair in nearby Forest Park. The lease money made it possible to begin construction of additional buildings, and all were used by the Fair before the university moved in.

The university seal was developed in 1896 by Holmes Smith, professor of drawing and history of art, using elements from the coat of arms of George Washington (after whom the university is named) and fleurs-de-lis, the symbol of King Louis IX, patron and namesake of St. Louis. The seal was officially adopted by the Board of Trustees in March 1897. The university’s motto, which appears inside an open book in the middle of the university seal, is Per Veritatem Vis, “Strength through Truth.” The motto was adopted in 1915. The current version of the official university seal was created in 2000, incorporating the same elements.

Washington University has been accredited by the  Higher Learning Commission (HLC) since 1913. The HLC is one of six regional accreditors recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Regional accreditation assures institutional quality by verifying that an institution (1) meets threshold standards and (2) is engaged in continuous improvement. The HLC assesses and evaluates academic programs, student services, governance and administration.

As of 2015, Washington University participates in the HLC’s  Open Pathway accreditation process. This process features a ten-year cycle which focuses on both assurance and improvement. Our 10-year cycle will take place between 2015 and 2025. There are Assurance Reviews in Years 4 and 10. Between Years 5 and 9 of the ten-year cycle, Washington University will propose and complete a Quality Initiative. In year 10, Washington University will undergo a comprehensive evaluation.

• Washington University has over 300 undergraduate student organizations on campus. Most are funded by the Washington University Student Union, which has a $2 million plus annual budget that is completely student-controlled and is one of the largest student government budgets in the country. Known as SU for short, the Student Union sponsors large-scale campus programs including WILD (a semesterly concert in the quad) and free copies of the New York Times, USA Today, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch through The Collegiate Readership Program; it also contributes to the Assembly Series, a weekly lecture series produced by the University, and funds the campus television station, WUTV, and the radio station, KWUR. KWUR was named best radio station in St. Louis of 2003 by the Riverfront Times despite the fact that its signal reaches only a few blocks beyond the boundaries of the campus.
• Washington University's sports teams are called the Bears. They are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and participate in the University Athletic Association at the Division III level. The Bears have won 19 NCAA Division III Championships— one in women's cross country (2011), one in men's tennis (2008), two in men's basketball (2008, 2009), five in women's basketball (1998–2001, 2010), and ten in women's volleyball (1989, 1991–1996, 2003, 2007, 2009) – and 144 UAA titles in 15 different sports. 
• Washington University has a large number of student-run musical groups on campus, including 12 official a cappella groups. The Pikers, an all-male group, is the oldest such group on campus. The Greenleafs, an all-female group is the oldest (and only) female group on campus. The Mosaic Whispers, founded in 1991, is the oldest co-ed group on campus. They have produced 9 albums and have appeared on a number of compilation albums, including Ben Folds' Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella! The Amateurs, who also appeared on this album, is another co-ed a cappella group on campus, founded in 1991. 
• The campus newspaper is Student Life is published twice a week under the auspices of Washington University Student Media, Inc., an independent not-for-profit organization incorporated in 1999. The paper was first founded in 1878, making it one of the oldest student newspapers in the country.

Washington University's undergraduate program is ranked 14th in the nation and seventh in admissions selectivity, in the 2013 U.S. News & World Report National Universities ranking. Additionally, 19 undergraduate disciplines are ranked among the top 10 programs in the country. In 2013, the ranking's peer assessment score was 4.1.

In 2013, Washington University received a record 30,117 applications for a freshman class of 1,500 with an acceptance rate of 13.7%. More than 90% of incoming freshmen whose high schools ranked were ranked in the top 10% of their high school classes. In 2006, the university ranked fourth overall and second among private universities in the number of enrolled National Merit Scholar freshmen, according to the National Merit Scholar Corporation's annual report. In 2008, Washington University was ranked #1 for quality of life according to The Princeton Review, among other top rankings. 

In addition, the Olin Business School's undergraduate program is among the top 4 in the country. The Olin Business School's undergraduate program is also among the country's most competitive, admitting only 14% of applicants in 2007 and ranking #1 in SAT scores with an average composite of 1492 M+CR according to BusinessWeek.

Graduate schools include the School of Medicine, currently ranked sixth in the nation, and the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, currently ranked first. The program in occupational therapy at Washington University currently occupies the second spot for the U.S. News & World Report rankings, and the program in physical therapy is ranked third. For the 2015 edition, the School of Law is ranked 18th and the Olin Business School is ranked 19th. Additionally, the Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Design was ranked ninth in the nation by the journal DesignIntelligence in its 2013 edition of "America's Best Architecture & Design Schools.